


Wilderness

by HPfangirl_13



Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Car Accidents, Cold Weather, F/M, Forests, Huddling For Warmth, Snow, Stranded, Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28840842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPfangirl_13/pseuds/HPfangirl_13
Summary: Thomas Magnum is heading back to Detroit after a fun ski vacation in the Rockies with his buddies. Juliet Higgins is more than ready to fly back to England after spending a month in Colorado doing ecological research. An impending blizzard has other plans. AU
Relationships: Juliet Higgins/Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Comments: 55
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! It's been a while since I've posted anything.... but it was because I was working on this little project! This fic is loosely based on the movie "The Mountain Between Us" with Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. There are quite a few differences between that movie and this story though. I'm not sure why I keep wanting to write Miggy AUs but oh well... I am going to try to update this on Mondays but I make no promises due to school, work, life, etc. Special shoutout to Bicoco for helping me with some ideas for this story and reading over my work to make sure it makes sense! Also, I should note that I know nothing about ecology. Basically everything pertaining to ecology that is discussed in this story was found on Google. Please enjoy and don't forget to let me know what you think!

“You’re absolutely sure that there is no other flight that I can take this afternoon? I must be in New York by 9 o’clock to make my flight back to London!”

Dr. Juliet Higgins viewed herself as a mostly patient person, but she had about reached her limit.

Juliet had been standing at the American Airlines customer service counter for over twenty minutes, trying to find some way to get to New York City after most flights out of Denver that afternoon had been cancelled due to a ‘pending snow storm’.

The woman at the counter, whose name tag read, “Sarah”, sighed deeply, “I’m terribly sorry, ma’am, but as I’ve said, all of the flights heading eastward have been cancelled or postponed for the rest of the day. The National Weather Service has forecasted that a severe blizzard is coming in this afternoon. It is simply just not safe to fly in that direction right now. We are prepared to offer you a hotel voucher for the Ritz Carlton downtown--”

“And as I’ve told you, I have no interest in staying in Denver tonight, no matter how nice the hotel may be,” Juliet interrupted, “I need to be able to get to New York in order to make my flight that is leaving later tonight for London. Reroute me through Colorado Springs or something. It is imperative that I am on that flight.”

Sarah offered her a nervous, sympathetic smile, “I’m sorry Ms. Higgins, but I’m afraid the hotel voucher is the best I can offer you. I would also direct you to the British Airways office on the third floor so that you can reschedule your flight to London.”

“Save it; and it’s doctor, by the way.”

Juliet grabbed her luggage and stormed away, fuming. This was useless. 

* * *

Thomas Magnum wasn’t really angry about his flight home to Detroit being cancelled. Instead, he was disappointed that he was going to be left alone in Denver for a couple of days until this supposed blizzard passed through. Since his military buddies Rick and TC were flying home to Hawaii, their flight had left earlier that morning and had gone off without a hitch since they were flying in the opposite direction of the storm. He had already received a hotel voucher from the United Airlines service desk, and was currently lugging his duffel bag down the terminal in order to try to catch a cab that would take him to the dingy Motel 6 room that he had been assigned. At least the airline was paying for the room; he wouldn’t have been able to afford it otherwise.

He really needed to find a job once he got back to Detroit. Even since he had gotten home from his tour in Afghanistan, he had just been picking up odd jobs here and there, but he had yet to find a stable source of income. In fact, he was 2 months behind on the rent for his apartment as it was. While they were on their ski trip, Thomas had told Rick and TC about all of his recent financial troubles when they had asked him if he would ever consider moving to Hawaii so they wouldn’t all have to be so far away. His friends had been surprised at the poor state of his finances, and had then scolded him for joining them on the trip since he had spent what little money he had on his plane ticket to Denver and covering his share of their room at the ski resort. Looking back now, Thomas could see why they would view that as a stupid decision--because it was.

As his mind was attempting to figure out how he was going to get out of the hole of debt that he was in, he overheard a commotion at one of the service desks to his right.

A petite, but built, woman with a posh British accent was demanding that she be placed on another flight in order to make another connection.  _ Join the club, lady,  _ he thought.

He then heard the woman make some comment about how she wanted to be addressed as ‘Dr.’ and not ‘Ms.’ before grabbing her luggage and turning around to walk away from the counter. When she turned around, Thomas could’ve sworn that his heart missed a few beats; she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. Despite the fact that he had just seen her behave somewhat rudely to the woman at the customer service desk, he could only describe her appearance as breathtaking. She had shoulder length curly blonde hair and was wearing some green cargo jeans with boots and a thick black jacket. The woman had shuffled her things over by a row of seats and had reached into her bag to fish out her cell phone.

Since this woman was apparently a doctor, she was clearly accomplished, automatically placing her far outside of the league of someone who was unemployed and broke like him. He gripped his duffel bag tighter and was ready to continue walking on when a voice in his head told him that if he didn’t at least try to talk to the woman, he would be thinking about what might have happened if he had for a long while. Gathering some courage, he approached her.

“Um, excuse me ma’am? I couldn’t help but hear the trouble you were having at the counter about your flight. If it’s any consolation, my flight has been cancelled too,” he said nervously.

_ So lame,  _ he scolded himself,  _ What is she supposed to say to that? _

The woman looked up from her phone and creased her brow, glancing him over briefly before looking back at her phone screen again. She really must be rude then if she wasn’t even going to speak to him and just ignore him altogether. He supposed that she didn’t owe him anything though. He decided to try one last time, “I’m not sure if you were able to get a hotel voucher or if they are out of them already, but if you still need one I can give you mine. I don’t really need it anyways.”

The woman looked up from her phone once more and Thomas offered her a small smile. This time, she at least said something to him, “I do not want a hotel voucher as I am not staying in Denver. It was kind of you to offer, but I will politely decline.”

“No worries,” he replied, trying to seem calm. “I don’t really want to stay in Denver anymore either. My friends that I was traveling with got lucky because their flight home left this morning. Now I will be stuck here by myself with nothing to do in a blizzard! What a crappy day!”

“Pity,” she replied dryly, turning her attention once again to her cell phone.

Thomas was no idiot. He could tell that she had no further interest in talking with him.

“Well, good luck with the rest of your travels. Please be safe in the storm!” He told her, starting to walk back down the terminal. Oh well, at least he wouldn’t regret not saying something to her.

Shuffling around in his pocket for some change, he decided that he wanted to get a hot chocolate before catching the cab to the motel.

* * *

Juliet let out a puff of air after leaving the British Airways booking office. They had managed to rebook her on another flight to London in three days time. Now all she had to do was find some way to get to New York before then, and that would be easier said than done given the pending blizzard and the fact that New York was on the clear other side of the country.

She decided that she needed to sit down and take a load off before attempting to make any more travel arrangements and she needed a hot coffee this instant. She saw a sign for a Starbucks up ahead and grabbed her luggage and began to walk over towards the coffee stand.

Oh, how she longed to go back to England. Juliet had been in the United States for close to a month now, working on various plant studies, attending several meetings, and making a few speeches at the International Ecological Conference, which this year happened to be in Denver. As a plant ecologist working for the British Ecological Society, she had spent a few weeks before the conference in different parts of Rocky Mountains National Park, conducting some research on different species of lichens and algae in different areas of the park with some specialists from one of the BES’s partner labs. When she got in line for coffee, she checked to see that the samples she had taken were still secured in her backpack.

After zipping her bag up again, she looked ahead towards the menu and noticed that the man that had talked to her earlier was at the counter ordering a drink. She watched curiously as he dug into his pocket and fished out some change to pay for his beverage. He apologized to the man behind him for the wait as he made sure that he had enough coins to pay. He then moved to the end of the counter by the ‘pick up’ sign and put his duffel bag down at his feet before stuffing his hands in his pockets. There was something about the man that was-- well-- intriguing for some reason. She had been completely disinterested in him when he approached her earlier, but she blamed that on being flustered from her conversation with the customer service agent and trying to make new travel arrangements in order to get to New York. Not to say that she was interested in him now, but the way he carried himself and how he had offered her, a stranger, his own hotel voucher was, well,  _ different _ . Certainly different from any other interaction she had experienced before. She couldn’t decide if it was genuine or creepy.

Having gotten lost in her thoughts, the barista from behind the counter asked her if she was ready to order. She hurriedly ordered a latte and moved her own things down by the ‘pick up’ sign on the counter, completely forgetting that the man she had encountered earlier was waiting there as well.

Their eyes met briefly as the man registered her standing next to him and he offered her another polite smile. Juliet returned his smile with the sort of flat lined grimace that you would give to a stranger walking down the street.

She had sort of expected him to say something to her, but when the barista called his name (which apparently was Thomas) to hand him his hot chocolate, he simply thanked the woman and went on his way.

Juliet was surprised, but unphased. She accepted her own drink a few moments later and set about finding a table where she could pull out her laptop and figure out how she was going to make it to New York to catch her flight home. She walked around the terminal near the Starbucks, but the airport was so packed with stranded people that seats were now scarce. She looked around with frustration; today really wasn’t going her way.

“Do you need a place to sit, ma’am?” A familiar voice called.

It was the man from earlier. He was seated at a bench off to the corner, and had taken his duffel bag off of the other side of the bench as he waved her over. Sighing, Juliet headed over to the bench and put her things down as she took a seat.

“Thank you. I appreciate the offer.”

“Of course. Looking for a place to sit is the last thing anyone here should be worrying about today with all of the delays and cancellations. I’m Thomas by the way, Thomas Magnum.”

Juliet pulled out her laptop and connected it to the internet before opening the browser, “Hi,” she said briefly before turning back to her computer.

“What’s your name?” Thomas asked. She could tell by his voice that he was trying to sound casual, but there was a hint of nervousness in his voice and she wasn’t quite sure why.

“Dr. Juliet Higgins,” she replied confidently. She had worked hard for the title, and she was proud to carry it.

“Oh you’re a doctor! That’s awesome! What kind of doctor are you?” Thomas asked excitedly.

“Look, Mr. Magnum, I’m in the process of trying to find some way to get to New York City so that I can make the flight that I had to rebook. I do not want to be rude, but it is hard to focus while answering questions.”

Thomas looked a little disappointed, “I’m sorry for bothering you, Dr. Higgins. I’ll leave you be.”

There was a silence between them for a few minutes before Thomas couldn’t help himself and spoke up again, “Have you looked at flights leaving from Phoenix? I know it’s a bit of a drive, but since you have a couple of days you could rent a car and drive there to catch your flight.”

Juliet was about to rebuff him, but thinking about it now, it actually wasn’t such a bad plan. The bad weather should improve as she went further south anyways as Phoenix was in a desert, and last time she checked it did not receive much snow. She hadn’t considered it before due to the long drive, but she did have a couple of days before her flight was due to leave New York.

“That’s an idea. I will see about renting a car to get there,” Juliet replied with a small smile.

“I can check my phone to see what kind of flights they have leaving from Phoenix if you’d like me to. Just to save time.”

“Um, I suppose if you’d like to. You really don’t have to, Mr. Magnum,”

Thomas laughed a little, “Oh it’s no trouble! I have nothing else to be doing anyways. And you don’t have to keep calling me ‘Mr. Magnum’, it sounds kind of weird.”

Juliet said nothing, turning her focus completely to the Hertz rental car website in an attempt to reserve one of the few remaining vehicles before they were all taken up by people who were trying to do the exact same thing as she was.

“I’m looking at cars now… apparently the only car that has not been reserved yet is a red Ferrari. It’s incredibly expensive as well… no wonder! Besides, that car is nowhere near conducive for driving through a snowstorm!” She said angrily, leaning back on the bench, “I’ll need to figure something else out.”

“The car is totally drivable in a snowstorm!” Magnum exclaimed.

Juliet rolled her eyes and huffed, “And I suppose that you have extensive knowledge of the performance levels of high-powered automobiles in extreme weather?”

Thomas chuckled a little, “Well, not really, but I do know that those cars have multiple kinds of driving modes that they can be shifted into. There’s a sport mode, a mountain mode, a cruise mode, things like that. One of my friends got to drive a Ferrari once. He told me about how awesome it was and the different features that the car had.”

Higgins shook her head at her laptop screen, “Even if that is true, there is absolutely no way that I am going to drive a car with God-knows-how-much horsepower for 14 hours in a blizzard! I would have to be insane to even attempt such a dangerous task.”

“Well,” Thomas began cautiously, “I could drive the Ferrari to Phoenix if you’d like; you know, if you aren’t comfortable driving yourself.”

Juliet turned her head towards him so quickly she became slightly dizzy, “And why on Earth would I allow a strange man to drive with me in a car for 14 hours? I don’t know you from Adam! You could be trying to kidnap me for all I know!”

“Now wait just a second,” said Thomas, holding up his hands defensively, “First of all I was a Navy SEAL, so I assure you I am a nice, well-intentioned guy. Second of all, I have been looking at the flights leaving from Phoenix and I see that not only is there one heading to New York City in two days for you, but there is another leaving around the same time back to Detroit for me.”

That last part was sort of a lie. There was a flight leaving for New York, but the one heading to Detroit involved 3 connections in other cities and would cost him a fortune to book; he could never afford it. His sense of adventure and chivalry was what was motivating him to want to help her out. Getting back to Detroit wasn’t pressing for him; he’d find some way back there eventually.

Juliet paused for a moment to consider his offer, “I-- I’m really not too sure about this, Mr. Magnum. There must be some other way.”

Thomas sighed, “Look, I know that none of this is ideal, but I really think that this could be the best solution for both of us. There are flights leaving Phoenix that work well for both of us, and there is only one car available for rent left. We can even split the cost as well since it is so expensive!”

Now Thomas was just making things up on the fly to get her to agree to his plan; and he was mentally scolding himself. He couldn’t afford rent back at his apartment, let alone half the cost of renting an expensive sports car. He was throwing out whatever he could to avoid never seeing this woman again. He knew that he would have to face the monetary and moral consequences of lying about sharing the cost of the car later, but for now all he wanted was to get to know this mysterious Dr. Higgins more.

She still looked skeptical, so Thomas pulled out a photograph from his wallet; one that he carried everywhere and treasured immensely.

“This is a photo of myself and the friends I mentioned earlier that I had been on a trip with. Their names are Rick and TC. This was taken when we were all stationed in Afghanistan on a mission a few years ago. I hope that this will help you see that I am telling the truth and only have good intentions with my offer. I want to get home as much as you do.

That last part was also a bit of a fib, but all of the important parts were one hundred percent true.

Juliet looked at the photo carefully. The three men were smiling in their uniforms in front of a tank of some sort and they all had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. Juliet had heard before that a picture could be worth a thousand words, and the photo that Thomas showed her had given her a push of confidence to accept his somewhat crazy offer. She just had a good gut feeling about the man.

Thomas was looking at her hopefully, and when she finally looked up from the picture to meet his gaze, she gave him a nervous, yet optimistic smile, “Alright, I accept your offer. It is absolutely crazy, but so is the situation that we’ve found ourselves in with the weather and cancellations. Let me reserve the car before it’s gone.”

A giant grin erupted across Thomas’ face at her agreement, “Awesome! I will reserve tickets for us for our respective flights home while you’re booking the car!”

Thomas wasn’t sure if his credit card could take that kind of a hit, but he was willing to do what he could to show his new traveling companion that he was serious about helping her for the right reasons.

“That’s-- very nice of you, Mr. Magnum. I really do appreciate it. We can sort out all of the costs and different payments once we arrive in Phoenix, yes?”

“Of course!” He replied, “We will get that all sorted out once we’re actually there. In the meantime, let’s book the car and flights before we lose them! And again, please call me Thomas. It will be a little awkward if we are sitting in the car for hours on end with you calling me ‘Mr. Magnum’ every time you talk to me.”

“Okay, okay! And I’m working on booking the car now,” she laughed. It was the first time that he had seen her display a real and authentic smile since they had first met, and Thomas was truly amazed at how much it enhanced her beauty. She was naturally beautiful already; but her smile, her  _ real  _ smile, brought a certain glow to her that made him want to get to know her even more. This was going to be a very interesting road trip. 

_ Maybe if I don’t make a complete fool of myself on this drive she will be interested in at least remaining friends after all of this is over,  _ he thought to himself.

He could have never predicted the series of events that was about to unfold in the coming days and weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 2!! Thank you for all of your kind words on the first chapter. They really mean a lot to me! I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much and have a fabulous week :)
> 
> As always, please let me know what you think!

Juliet clicked the button on the key fob that caused the car to unlock, and even pressing that tiny button made her afraid of damaging something on the insanely expensive automobile. Thomas, meanwhile, was in heaven.

“This thing has a 488 engine!? That’s amazing! I’ve only seen this model with that engine in magazines! I can’t believe this is even a rental option! Ohhh I can’t wait to drive it!” He exclaimed, practically jumping for joy as he threw his bags down beside the car to take a closer look under the hood.

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s all very impressive. I, for one, am just hoping that this vehicle has the stamina to drive hundreds of miles in a snowstorm.” She opened the trunk to load her bags into the car. When he heard the trunk opening, Thomas immediately hurried to the rear of the car.

“Here, let me help you with those,” he said, quickly taking her luggage and backpack from her hands to place them in the trunk.

“Be careful with that!” Juliet scolded, “I have important algae samples in my backpack! It is vitally important that they remain undisturbed!”

“Sorry,” Thomas replied sheepishly, “Algae samples? Maybe at some point during this road trip you can tell me what kind of a doctor you are.”

Juliet huffed as she closed the trunk and marched towards the passenger side door of the car, “I have a doctorate in plant ecology, if you must know. I work for the British Ecological Society.”

They both got into the car and got situated with their seatbelts, “Wow,” Thomas replied, “That sounds complicated. You must be really smart. I’m not completely sure what ecology even is if I’m being honest.”

Juliet laughed a little. This man was definitely someone that she would’ve never encountered had her flight not been cancelled. He was from a totally different world. She was used to being constantly surrounded by people who spoke fluently in scientific language and had advanced degrees; not by men who did not know what her profession and field of study involved.

“Well, I guess I’ll have plenty of time on this little jaunt to inform you about ecology; although I have a feeling that once you find out what it is you’ll be promptly bored to death. You don’t strike me as the type of man to find science and research intriguing.”

Thomas started the car and revved the engine before facing Juliet with a confident smirk, “You’d be surprised at what I find to be intriguing.”

* * *

They had been driving for about an hour before the snow started to come down in droves. Thomas had put the windshield wipers and the defroster heat setting on full blast, but the blizzard was becoming really thick and obscuring their view of the road ahead of them.

Before the storm began, he had started out by going about 90 miles an hour on the interstate, and had been promptly screamed at by Juliet to ‘slow the bloody hell down!’

“Honest to God, Magnum, I did not agree to this arrangement so that you can live out your fantasy of becoming a racecar driver!” She had yelled. He had complained that he was just testing out their ‘rocketship’ of a rental car, but another stern look from Dr. Higgins had gotten them right back to a cool 50 miles an hour.

Now, they were lucky if they were doing 20. They could barely see 5 feet in front of the Ferrari; let alone the other cars on the highway.

“Maybe we should pull over for a bit,” suggested Juliet, “The last thing we need is to crash into another car.”

“That would only make things worse,” said Thomas, “If we stop, the snow would pile up on the car. We could get stuck in place on the side of the road.”

Juliet sighed. He was right.

“I knew the impending storm was supposed to be pretty bad, but I never imagined that it would be this rough. At this speed it will take over a day to get to Phoenix!”

“We’ll make it in time for our flights, don’t worry. Besides, the further south we go the less bad weather we should have to contend with. We’re barely outside of Denver and we’re still in the mountains so it’s still below freezing,” he assured her.

“Yes, I’m well aware of what the temperature is, Magnum! I’ve studied plants and their environments in different climates and biomes all over the world,” she huffed.

“Hey, hey, I know you’re frustrated, but that’s still no reason to get upset with me. I’m doing the best I can over here. And are you ever going to call me by my actual name?” He inquired.

“Technically, Magnum is your actual name, so I have been calling you by your given name this entire time,” she added sarcastically.

He laughed a little, deciding that he was going to push her buttons a little, “So what can I call you? Juliet? Or do people call you Julie or Jules for short?”

Juliet’s mouth dropped open as if he had just called her something crass, “Absolutely not! You may address me as ‘Doctor’, ‘Dr. Higgins’, or just Higgins if you must be so informal. That’s what most of my colleagues call me anyways.”

“Well, I was hoping that we would reach a level of a little less formality, but if those are my options I guess I’ll go with Higgins. If you call me by my last name it’s only fair that I call you by yours.”

“Fair enough,” Juliet replied coldly, crossing her arms and looking out the window into the snowy abyss.

Thomas couldn’t decide what had become more frigid: the weather or Juliet’s temperament towards him, though he chalked most of that up to the unfortunate day she had experienced. Most people would be a bit moody if they had to completely revamp their travel plans and go on a road trip with a complete stranger to make their next flight. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and try to break the ice by asking her about her career, which evidently was the only thing that seemed to have any value to her.

“So,” he began, “I’m dying to know what ecology is and what you do. You’ll have even more time to explain it now that we’re moving so slowly.”

Juliet took a deep breath before she began to speak, “Well, ecology involves the study of abiotic and biotic factors and how they interact together in an environment, and conversely plant ecology is just a subarea of that which focuses on the relationship of plants with one another and with their surrounding environments.”

“What does abiotic and biotic mean?” Thomas asked, puzzled.

Juliet almost made a snide comment pertaining to Thomas’ level of intelligence, but she decided against it. It was clear science wasn’t really his thing.

“Biotic simply means living, and abiotic means non-living. Do they not teach those terms in primary school in America?”

Thomas chuckled, “If they did, I either forgot or wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t really have too much fun in school anyways, unless you count recess or PE.”

“That does not surprise me,” Juliet replied, “But anyways, I was here in Colorado conducting some studies with one of our partner labs on different species of lichens and algae in Rocky Mountains National Park. Then I had to give a few speeches at the International Ecological Conference. I’ve been here for about a month. I’m very ready to return to England.”

“I bet. That’s a long time to be away from your friends and family. And the time difference must be tricky too,” he added.

Higgins just sort of looked at her feet at his friends and family comment, and Thomas realized that he may have overstepped a bit. For all he knew she was on poor terms with her family. He tried to change the subject, “So, tell me more about these samples that you are carrying. Those sounded pretty important.”

“Oh that would be too much of a bore for you. I promise you they’re not very interesting.”

“They have to be more interesting than driving at ten miles an hour in heavy snow,” he whined, “Come on, Higgins! I’m already bored out of my mind!”

“Fine,” she sighed, “I collected a few samples of one type of algae from up in the National Park that looks eerily similar to one that I’ve seen in the Scottish Highlands. They are in a special temperature regulating container in my backpack along with a few species of lichens that my superiors wanted to take a closer look at once I arrive at the lab back home.”

‘What part of the UK is your lab in?” Thomas inquired.

“It’s in Central London. I work at the main laboratory and research facility for the entire UK. I am rarely there though since they are constantly sending me to other parts of the country and even sometimes on international trips like this one. My job usually involves field work with our partner labs and collecting samples that I bring back to analyze.”

“That’s cool. You must’ve been to some pretty awesome places then.”

“Yes and no,” she replied, “This trip for instance I found to be rather tiring. A lot of trekking in the mountains- with a lot of equipment- to conduct studies on some rather dull species of plant life. My trips to more tropical regions have been far more enjoyable; both in terms of the overall climate and the beauty of the vegetation.”

Thomas smiled, “I love tropical climates too. The friends that I was with here on a ski trip, Rick and TC, actually live in Hawaii of all places. They’ve been trying to convince me to move there to be closer to them since we all got out of the military, but I just haven’t had the money to do it.”

That got Juliet thinking, “So I know you mentioned that you were a Navy SEAL, but what kind of work do you do now since you’ve left the military?”

“Well, I’ve done a few odd jobs here and there, but I haven’t actually managed to find a steady job yet. That’s kind of been on my to-do list for a while,” he said, slightly embarrassed.

The car was silent for a moment.

“So--you’re unemployed?” Asked Juliet, unimpressed.

Thomas winced. Now that she knew that he didn’t have a stable job, it was only a matter of time before she brought up the cost splitting discussion regarding the price of the plane tickets and the rental car.

“Um, yeah. Right now I am anyway. I just haven’t been able to find the right fit for me. I’m not the type of person who is conditioned to work a nine to five everyday. I’m kind of keeping my options open.”

Thomas glanced over at Higgins, who didn’t look amused at all. If he had even a thousandth of a percent chance with her before, it was clear he had no chance at all now.

The car filled with a somewhat awkward quietude for what felt like hours to Thomas. He just tried to concentrate on the road as much as possible, which was probably a smart plan given the extremely poor visibility.

Juliet meanwhile was looking out the window into the thick of the blizzard, rethinking her entire travel plan.  _ What in the bloody hell were you thinking!?  _ She chastised herself,  _ Why on earth would you agree to spend over half a day in a car with a jobless, lazy stranger? The trip will be even longer than you originally thought because of the fact that you are in a Ferrari in an insane snowstorm!  _

“Oh no,” said Magnum, bringing her out of the internal conversation she was having with herself, “The interstate is being closed up ahead!”

“What?!” She exclaimed, her head snapping up to squint to see the neon flashing sign amongst the insane amount of snow that was coming down.

“Can  _ anything  _ go right today?” She exclaimed. The day had truly been a complete disaster.

“I’m going to have to get off at the next exit up here,” sighed Thomas, “We’re going to have to figure out another way to get to Phoenix.”

“We’ll just have to take backroads,” Juliet grumbled, “When you exit, pull off at a petrol station so we can figure out the next best route.”

Since all of the traffic was funneling into one lane to get off of the interstate, it took another half-hour before Magnum and Higgins were parked at a Shell gas station with each of their phones out, looking for other possible roads they could take.

“I think I’ve got a solid plan,” Juliet said, showing him the ‘Maps’ screen that was pulled up on her phone, “Since I-25 South has been shut down, we could take I-70 West. I know it appears as if that route is more complex, but the GPS says that it would only add ten additional minutes to the arrival time that we would have had if we could have stayed on 25.”

Thomas glanced over the route on her screen and nodded a little, “Well, if the arrival time is still pretty much the same that way sounds good to me.”

Higgins turned towards him and raised her eyebrows, “You’re ok with the route I’ve chosen?”

Magnum chuckled, “Yes, is that hard to believe?”

“I suppose not. I guess I just thought that you would insist on taking a route that you found yourself. Most men that I’ve encountered and worked with over the years have believed that their way is the best way, regardless of the ideas that someone else had offered or any proof that they had gathered to contradict what they had insisted was correct.”

Thomas gave her a small smile, “I’m not one of those types of guys, Higgins. Trust me, I’ve met my fair share of them, and I can’t stand them any more than you do. Even though I’ve only known you for a few hours, I can tell that you’re a very intelligent woman. I trust your judgement. We both have the same end goal here anyways.”

Higgins rewarded his response with a small smile, and Thomas felt a sense of satisfaction come over him. 

“Very well. Let’s go then.” She programmed their new route into the Ferrari’s GPS, and they were off once again.

* * *

“Magnum, I’m almost 100% positive that you should have turned left back there!” Scolded Juliet.

This alternate route had taken them westward onto more mountainous roads, and between the snow storm and the remote location of the backroad they were taking to get to I-70, the cell reception was a little spotty which was causing the GPS in Juliet’s phone to load at an extremely slow pace.

Thomas huffed in frustration, “Look, Higgins _ ,  _ it’s not my fault that the cell service is crap up here. The storm’s probably just making it worse. I can barely see the road anyways.”

“Turn around and make that turn, Magnum! We’re going to get lost; or worse, we’re going to miss our flights!” Juliet exclaimed exasperatedly.

“Do you have any patience?” Thomas asked, starting to lose his cool a bit. “I don’t think we were even supposed to turn back there! Ever since we made travel plans and got in the car you’ve done nothing but complain and whine about how I’m not doing something right or about how we are not going to make our flights. I’m doing the best I can driving in this weather. We still have plenty of time to get to Phoenix anyways. You really need to chill out.”

Just then, the Ferrari must’ve rolled over an iced portion of the road because the front tire slipped a bit, causing the car to veer off to the side of the road slightly.

“Watch it!” Higgins yelled, “You’re going to get us killed if you don’t pay closer attention to the roads! There are patches of ice everywhere!”

“Do you want to drive then,  _ Doctor _ ?” He asked frigidly, “For someone who isn’t even behind the wheel you seem to be a professional at backseat driving. We’re not in a snowmobile, you know.”

“Well,  _ you  _ were the one who insisted that you were able to drive a Ferrari in snow and that the car would be ‘just fine’ as long as you switched it into the proper mode! Pardon me for pointing out the fact that you very clearly have no idea what on God’s Earth you are doing!”

“At least I’m not paying for this,” he grumbled under his breath, thinking Higgins wouldn’t hear him.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

“I beg your pardon! Did I just hear you say that you think you won’t be paying your share!?” She said, almost yelling.

Thomas gripped the steering wheel even harder as they ascended the mountain road further; fighting to keep the car moving in a straight path down the road without skidding out on a patch of ice, “Well, now that you’ve said that, I don’t think I won’t be paying for half of the car,  _ I know  _ I won’t be! Not only because I can’t afford it, but because of the way you’ve treated me for the last couple of hours! All I wanted to do was help you! I didn’t even find a direct connection to Detroit from Phoenix, I just told you that so you would let me help you! I was just trying to be nice and I’ve been thanked by getting screamed at endlessly!”

Juliet’s mouth fell open in shock at his confession, but she quickly gathered herself into a new fit of rage, “You can’t afford it?!? What do you mean you can’t afford to pay for half the fee for the rental? Do you think I want to pay the five thousand dollar fee all by myself? Oh, mark my words, Magnum, you will be paying!”

“Can you just shut up for a minute? I can’t even see three feet in front of the car right now! I really need to concentrate on the road!” He insisted, squinting to try to get a clearer view of the road ahead of them.

Higgins was appalled, “How  _ dare  _ you tell me to shut up!! This entire thing was a complete mistake!! I should’ve never got in the car with you! You’re such a liar and thief! I bet that photo of you and your supposed ‘friends’ in Afghanistan was a fraud too. I can’t believe I got into a Ferrari to drive fourteen hours in a snowstorm with a complete stranger who turned out to be a con-man!” She yelled, burying her face in her hands.

“I would never lie about my time in the military!” He exclaimed angrily, “That’s the one thing in my life that I’m most proud of. I lied at the airport about small things. Only stuff related to my own flight and I guess paying for half of the car rental. All I wanted to do was help you-- I swear!”

Higgins rolled her eyes, “You’ll say anything now to get out of this mess you’ve created. I don’t even want to be in this car with you any more!”

No sooner than the words were out of her mouth did a horrible screeching noise start emanating from the tires and breaks.

“What’s happening?” She demanded.

“I--I don’t know!” Thomas said frantically, “All I know is that we’re sliding backwards towards the left and I can’t brake!”

“Well do  _ something _ ! If we crash my samples are going to be ruined!” She yelled over the horrid noise, which was just getting louder as the car continued to slide backwards on the ice.

Thomas rolled his eyes and mashed the brake pedal over and over, but he began to panic as the car was only accelerating as veered off to the backwards and to the left even more. He could barely see anything as the snow blowing around the car was so thick.

“We’re going to run completely off of the road!” Higgins screeched, holding onto the dash and the door in an attempt to brace herself.

All of a sudden, the back end of the car felt like it was hanging off of something.

Juliet and Thomas’ eyes met in fear, and for a moment, it felt as though everything was still.

Then they were falling, Juliet was screaming, and everything faded to black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! Friday felt a little empty without a new episode, but hopefully this week's episode will make up for that! (The promo has me screaming!!!) I hope you all enjoy chapter 3! I know Higgy is being a bit difficult with Magnum in the story right now, but she will lighten up... eventually!
> 
> Have a great week, and as always, please let me know what you think :)

When Thomas opened his eyes, all he could feel was pain. His head was throbbing, as well as just about every other part of his body. He was confused and his memory was foggy.  _ Where am I?  _ He asked himself,  _ And why does every part of me feel like it's been in a boxing match? _

Trying to look around as best he could, he realized that he was trapped in a car; and that’s when everything came flooding back to him.

The crash, the travel plans,  _ Higgins… _

A wave of panic and worry washed over him when he thought of her. He could barely move, but he craned his head to the side to look towards her. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly ajar, and he could make out a thin trail of blood running down her face in the dim light. He was terrified that she was dead, but then he noticed the faint movement of her chest as she took shallow breaths.

He sighed in relief before trying to take stock of their current situation. They had fallen off of the edge of the mountain road and down part of the mountain itself; that much was obvious. But just how far they had fallen and how long it had been since the crash was a mystery. The light outside was dim, and Thomas realized that it had to be the next morning because they had crashed in the late afternoon. The door on Higgins’ side of the car had come off, and the roof of the car had caved in significantly. Slowly, he brought a hand up to his ribs and felt around for any potential breaks. By some freak of nature, it didn’t appear that anything was broken, but he was pretty confident that they were bruised a good bit.

Apart from the bruised ribs and a few cuts and scrapes, Thomas was relatively ok. He did know that he needed to get out of the cramped position that he was stuck in, but the awkward position of the crushed-in door and the steering wheel was making that exceedingly difficult.

“Higgins?” He whispered; nothing.

“Higgins, you need to wake up,” he said, raising his voice to try to rouse her, “Come on, please.”

She didn’t even stir. She must’ve really been knocked out cold. More worry creeped up in his head when he saw the trickle of blood was still coming down the side of her face. She must have really hit her head; probably had a concussion too. What if she didn’t remember him or their situation at all?

He spotted his phone; which had been smashed, up on the dash in 2 different pieces. Higgins’ phone which had been in a phone holder attached to a vent so they could follow the GPS was nowhere to be seen. So much for calling for help. Thomas sighed deeply again.  _ What an absolute mess they were in.  _ Making it onto those flights in Phoenix were the least of their worries now. Now his only focus was getting Higgins and himself out of the totaled sports car so that they could try to get back to the road and find some help. 

He decided that the best way to get out of the Ferrari would probably be through the opening on Higgins’ side where the door had completely come off. But that would most likely involve her being awake, which at the moment didn't seem to be a viable option.

Reaching his arm across slowly, he patted her shoulder gently in another attempt to rouse her.

“Higgins, come on! Please wake up! I know you’re mad at me but we’re really going to have to work together to get out of this car… and the rest of this whole mess!”

She was still unresponsive. “Juliet?” He tried, knowing full well she would have scolded him for calling her by her first name had she been awake.

Smiling slightly as he thought of her strictness regarding what he could and could not call her, he came up with a nickname that would’ve surely sent her into an angry tirade, “If you woke up soon, Higgy, maybe you’d be able to check on those precious samples of yours.”

* * *

Juliet’s vision was fuzzy when she woke up. She felt like the world around her was spinning and she couldn’t tell up from down.

Where was she anyways? It was awfully cold… and she was in a significant amount of pain. That’s when it hit her- the crash, Magnum, the plans to drive to Arizona to catch a flight to New York.

_ So much for that,  _ she thought to herself.

Turning her neck caused sharp pains to shoot throughout her neck and body as she tried to speak, “Magnum? Are you awake? What’s going on?”

Her words came out grumbled, but she still managed to rouse him because his response was almost immediate.

“Higgins! Thank God! I woke up earlier and tried to get you to wake up but you wouldn’t budge. I was really getting worried.”

“Do you know how far down the car fell? Or how far we are from the road?” Juliet asked, wincing as she tried to shift in her seat slightly.

“I’m actually not sure. I haven’t been able to get a good look from in here. I was hoping that since you’re awake we can try to get out of the car on your side since the door’s off. I can assess your injuries better with more space as well. Anything hurting really badly?”

Juliet closed her eyes as she tried to stop the pounding in her head that seemed to be getting worse from trying to look around, “My head is bloody killing me, and it hurts everytime I take a breath. I must have really hurt my ribs.”

“You probably have a concussion too,” Thomas added, wiping a bit of blood off of the corner of her forehead where she was still bleeding slowly, “I think you banged your head up pretty badly. That’s what knocked you out for so long.”

“I-I’m seeing spots, Magnum… I want to go back to sleep…” she trailed off, head lolling to the side.

“No, Higgy!” Magnum said in a panic, “You can’t fall asleep again soon. Not with a head injury like that.”

Even in her slightly dazed state, Juliet’s brow furrowed at the use of the moniker, “What did you just call me?”

Thomas was scared for a brief moment before chuckling a little, “It’s nothing. Just a little nickname I thought of for you while you were taking your little snooze.”

“You can’t call me that!” She insisted as fiercely as she could, causing her head to pound even harder, “You have no right to make fun of my name at all, especially after all that you’ve put me through. If I had just kept on ignoring you, I wouldn’t be in this mess! Have you even attempted to call for help?”

Thomas spoke softly as to not aggravate her headache further, “Do you think I wanted this to happen? Or I wanted to get in a car crash? And besides, I’m not making fun of your name, Higgins, I promise. In terms of calling for help, my phone is smashed up on the dash, but I guess we could try using yours If we could find it. It flew out of the holder when we crashed.”

Juliet sighed deeply, “Considering the fact that my door has completely blown off, I would say there’s probably a fair chance that my phone isn’t even in the car any longer; and there’s an even bigger chance that it’s destroyed wherever it is.”

“You’re not wrong,” replied Magnum, looking down in dismay, “We still need to get out of this car though. If I unbuckle your seatbelt, do you think you could manage to crawl out onto the ground?”

“I guess so,” she said wincing, “Any movement right now hurts very badly.”

“I know,” Thomas replied apologetically, “I will help you when I’m out of the car as well. I just can’t get out before you because of the way the car is positioned. Take all the time you need. Don’t keep going if it hurts too much.”

Juliet nodded as Thomas reached over and unfastened her seatbelt. Very, very slowly, Juliet inched towards the opening where the passenger side door had been and began to scooch herself out of the Ferrari.

“That’s it, you’re doing great, Higgy,” Magnum encouraged, forgetting about her disdain for his new nickname for her.

She said nothing but groaned in pain as she slowly maneuvered herself out of the totaled car and onto the snowy ground.

Once she was completely out of the car she lay completely still on the ground and looked over at Thomas, watching him as he moved from his seat carefully and gently eased himself out of the opening where the door had been. It was a bit difficult due to the awkward position of the steering wheel.

Once he was next to her on the cold ground, he sat up and looked around briefly, “Geez, we made a big drop… I can barely see the road with all of the snow coming down. There’s no way we could climb all the way back up there. It’s got to be at least 100 feet, and you’re in no condition to even attempt that; well, neither of us are.”

Juliet craned her head to look up and sighed in defeat as she realized that Magnum was right.

“Here,” he said softly, “Let me check your ribs to see what we’re dealing with here before we try to go anywhere.”

The air was frigidly cold on her skin as Thomas gingerly lifted the material of her jacket and sweater to assess the condition of her torso and rib cage.

Thomas had to stop himself from gasping in shock. Higgins had dark purple and blue bruises all over her torso, but predominantly on her right side.

“Um, it looks kind of serious on your right side. May I feel your ribs to see what’s going on? I promise I’ll be as gentle as I possibly can.”

Juliet sighed, teeth chattering, “Fine. Just h-h-hurry u-up. I’m really really cold.”

Looking at her apologetically, Thomas lightly pressed a couple of fingers onto her cold, bruised skin in a few different spots. After a few seconds, Juliet wailed in agony, “Please! No more! It-it hurts very badly. They must be broken if i’m in this much pain.”

Thomas pulled her sweater and jacket back down and frowned; he couldn’t be sure if that was the case or not, but opted for the lesser diagnosis.

“I don’t think they’re broken. I couldn’t feel any breaks. I think they’re just bruised pretty badly, but unfortunately there’s not much to do for damaged ribs other than just rest. Our number one priority right now is getting out of the snow and finding some shelter. The snow is coming down too heavily for us to stay out in the open like this. There’s no way we can climb back up the side of the mountain to the road either. I’m going to have to carry you as we look for somewhere to get out of the cold. You can’t walk right now.”

If looks could kill, Thomas was confident that he would already be dead. Juliet looked furious, and on top of that she was in some pretty significant pain.

“This is all your fault,” she seethed, “You tricked me into renting the car so you could have a free ride, and look where it’s gotten us! I’m going to die out here because of your lies and incompetence! And the fact that you can’t bloody drive on top of that!”

Magnum felt a twang of hurt at her words, but he was determined to prove that he could get them out of the mess that he had a large part in creating.

“It’s going to be ok, Higgins. I  _ was  _ a Navy SEAL. I never lied about that. I will do everything I can to keep you alive and get us some help and medical care. I think I’m ok for the most part. I’m sore and my ribs are bruised too, but not as badly as yours. I’m going to try to get our backpacks out of the car. There’s no way we can take our luggage with us though. Is there anything from your luggage that you absolutely can’t go without?”

“I have an extra fleece scarf in my luggage. Get that if you can find it,” she said quietly, avoiding his eyes.

Thomas made his way to the trunk of the car and pried it open. He quickly opened his backpack and pulled on his Detroit Tigers beanie and wrapped his own scarf around his neck. Then, rummaged through Higgins’ bag, shoving her scarf into her backpack before going into his own luggage to grab a compact sleeping bag that he had packed along with his Swiss Army knife. Rick and TC had made fun of him for bringing a little sleeping bag on their ski trip since he would have no use for it, but Thomas was more thankful than ever now that he had brought it. They would need whatever they could get to be able to stay warm. He put his things into his own backpack and carried both bags over to where Juliet was laying.

“Ok, I’ve got our backpacks. We really need to get moving. If we head further down the mountain the chances of finding another road or something will be better,” he told her, somehow connecting her own pack to his so he could carry them both on his back. He knelt down and moved to scoop her up.

Before he could even pick her up, she gasped sharply and Thomas was scared that her injuries were even more severe than what he had initially thought.

“My samples!” She exclaimed, “Oh my God they’re probably ruined! They’re in a protective case in my backpack but the fall and the crash surely destroyed them!”

“We-we can’t be sure of that,” Thomas said nervously, “Here, I’ll look in your bag right now.”

“ _ I’ll  _ look at them. I can’t have you jeopardizing them if they are by some miracle, still ok. Let me see my backpack,” she seethed.

He set the bag down in front of her so she could inspect the contents and braced himself for the results of her analysis.

Unsurprisingly, the glass case had been cracked and some bits of the algae had made their way onto other things in her pack.

“Dammit!” She cursed, “I’m going to be fired for this! Do you know that? The lab is going to kill me! A month of research and study all for nothing…”

Thomas shifted uncomfortably for a few seconds before shifting the topic back to getting out of the blizzard coming down upon them, “I’m really sorry about your samples, Higgy. I really am. But right now it’s very important that we get out of this storm.”

She sighed angrily as she zipped up her backpack and shoved it back towards him. He reconnected her pack to his own and put them back on his back before gently scooping her up bridal style.

“Wait, wait, wait! How can you carry both of the backpacks and me? There’s no way you’ll be able to hike downhill carrying all of that weight! You’re not Superman you know!”

“No, I’m not Superman, but like I said, I was a SEAL. I’ve had to carry heavier loads than this before, Higgy. Trust me, I can do it,” he sighed.

“Will you stop calling me that!” She fussed, “And if you drop me, so help me God I will kill you!”

“Good to know,” he replied sarcastically, finally standing up with Higgins in tow.

Juliet winced as Magnum started walking. Even though she wasn’t walking herself, it felt as though every single step he took in the snow sent sharp pains straight to her ribs; not to mention the splitting headache she had from when she must’ve hit her head on the frame of the car. Juliet considered herself to be someone with a reasonably high pain tolerance, but between the stress of the situation and her multiple injuries, she could feel tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.

Thomas walked in silence for what seemed like hours, but really couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes. He was putting on a brave face so that Higgins wouldn’t panic, but the truth was he was really scared. He had no idea where they were, neither of them had working phones, and the snow was really coming down. His whole body was aching and sore all over; not to mention the fact that Higgins was in even worse shape.

As they descended the hill of the mountain, the trees and foliage became thicker, providing a small barrier to the onslaught of snow that the open expanse of land where the Ferrari had crashed hadn’t. Still, they needed to find some type of shelter to be able to take a break and get their bearings.

Thomas could hear Juliet’s teeth chattering, he knew the Rockies could have some cold weather, but this snow storm was absolutely unforgiving.

“W-w-where should w-we find shelter?” Higgins asked quietly, Thomas looked down at her and noticed that her eyes were drooping again. She couldn’t lose consciousness; that would only lower her body temperature even more.

“Please try to stay awake, Higgy, I’m looking around for something. If we could find a small cavern or even a large collection of rocks to provide some protection from the elements that would be amazing.”

They trudged on for a few more minutes before Juliet piped up again, “L-l-look over there! Is that a cave on the side of that rocky hill?”

Thomas looked around until his eyes fell on the supposed enclosure that Higgins was referring to. It was a bit too far away to be able to see it completely clearly, but it  _ did  _ appear to be a cave of some sort.

“We’ll start heading over there, then. If it’s suitable for us to stay and rest that would be perfect,” Magnum replied.

Juliet let out a tired, frustrated huff, “Nothing about this situation is perfect, Magnum.”

Thomas stepped over a branch, “You know what I mean, Higgins. ‘Perfect’ for us right now would be finding a dry place to rest where we can make a fire.”

Higgins was silent, and Thomas could feel her shaking like a leaf in his arms; that motivated him to walk towards the cave even faster.

Once they arrived at the opening to the cave, Thomas bent his knees a little to look inside. It seemed to go back at least twenty feet or so, and it looked about ten feet wide. It looked like a secure spot for the time being.

“G-go in, Magnum. W-what are you waiting for?” Higgins asked impatiently.

Magnum sighed and he carried her into the cave, “I was just checking it out to make sure we could fit and to make sure nothing else was hanging out in there to escape the cold. Have a little patience, Higgy. I don’t want to share our cave with a mountain lion.”

Thomas set Juliet down up against the back wall of the cave, dropping both of their backpacks alongside her, “I’m going to go try and find some wood so that we can get a fire going. For now, get yourself warm with your extra scarf and my pocket-size sleeping bag that I put in my bag. I’ll be back soon.”

Juliet nodded briefly, wincing in pain as she turned towards the bags to get some things out. In an ideal situation, Thomas would have stayed and helped settle her in, but making a fire needed to happen sooner rather than later.

He ventured back out into the snow, which was still coming down at a pretty good clip. Finding usable firewood would be difficult in this weather, and even then wood that he did find would have to dry before there was any chance of it lighting.

As he searched the surrounding area for wood, still sore from the crash, he thought about Higgins waiting for him back at the cave. He wanted to be angry with her for many of the jabs she had made at him leading up to the crash and even as they were trudging through the snow to find some shelter.  _ What is with this woman?!  _ He questioned himself.  _ Can’t she just give me a little bit of a break? Everything I’ve done is to try to help her! The offer to drive the car, finding new ways for her to get where she was trying to go… all just to be ridiculed and yelled at! _

While his immediate senses were ranting and raving about how poorly she had been treating him, another part of him knew that there had to be more to it. Thomas had gained a lot of experience and knowledge about people during his time in the military, and he knew that her behavior and outbursts were classic defensive measures that a person would take to protect themselves from pain and hurt. Initially, he thought that someone like the esteemed Dr. Juliet Higgins would have many friends and colleagues anxiously awaiting her return home, but come to think of it, she hadn’t mentioned  _ any  _ friends or family since he had met her, let alone after they had crashed and were now without phones and a means of contacting people.

He knew that Rick and TC would be starting to get suspicious since Thomas had told them he would keep in touch with them on the way to Phoenix and he had promised to let them know when they arrived at the airport. Granted, they weren’t slated to arrive in Phoenix until later that afternoon, so the guys may have just thought that Thomas was too busy driving to text them.

Regardless, it was only a matter of time before people started looking into what had happened to them. They would be missing from their respective flights later on, and the rental company was expecting their precious Ferrari later tonight. When it didn’t arrive, steps would have to be taken.

Thomas attempted to shove the thoughts of a potential lawsuit and enormous bill from the company for their totaled luxury automobile and shifted his focus to gathering wood and looking around for anything else that may be of help to them.

* * *

Juliet was still freezing. She had bundled herself up in her fleece scarf and managed to unravel Magnum’s pocket-sized sleeping bag, easing herself carefully into it. That laborious process had taken about 20 minutes because of how dizzy she was and how much pain she experienced at even the slightest movement. Hopefully Magnum would be back soon so they could get a fire going. That would surely warm her up, right?

Speaking of Magnum,  _ Where was that godforsaken man?  _ He had gone to collect firewood over an hour ago, and even with all of the snow and ice, surely he had been able to find some suitable materials to create a flame.  _ He is a Navy SEAL after all.  _ She repeated sarcastically to herself.

_ If I have to hear him tell me that one more time… _

Even so, if he was in fact in the military, this should be one of the situations that he had trained and prepared for, and Juliet tried to remind herself that despite everything that had happened so far, they would find some way out of the dreadful situation they currently found themselves in. Still, his extended absence was beginning to make her worry. What if he had injured himself further and couldn’t make it back? Is it possible that he may have lost his way? What if some animal had attacked him? Those questions and more raced through her mind before a final one caused a deep pit to form in her stomach; what if he had abandoned her and tried to get help on his own? He knew that she was in no condition to walk or climb; maybe he had just decided to try to get himself out of this thinking that bringing her along would slow him down. She had to agree that it would.

He had however, left his backpack and sleeping bag with her. Surely he wouldn’t have done that if he had wanted to leave her to fend for herself? No matter how much she disliked the man, she had to admit that without his assistance, there was very little chance she would be able to make it out of this alive.


	4. Chapter 4

Thomas finally arrived back at the cave about two hours after he had first left, and Juliet was freezing and beyond frustrated.

“Where in the bloody hell have you been?!” She exclaimed, “I can’t believe it took you two hours to find some wood!”

Thomas arranged the wood and what she guessed was some type of kindling into a pile and scoffed in retaliation, “In case you haven’t noticed, Princess Higgins, there’s a blizzard going on outside. So, naturally, I had to do some digging to find some materials. Even though I have gloves I still can’t feel my hands! A simple ‘thank you’ wouldn’t have hurt you too much would it?”

“Thanks,” she muttered quietly, somewhat relieved that he had even returned at all, “Now, can you  _ please  _ get the fire started so we can have some warmth?

Thomas winced, unsure of how to break some tough news to her, “I think we’re going to have to wait a little bit before I can try to get it started. The wood and kindling is just too wet right now from being in the snow. It would never take a flame. When it dries off, and I get it going, we can use some of the hand sanitizer from my bag to help it along. You don’t happen to have a lighter or matches in your backpack do you?”

“I was about to board a plane, Magnum! Why on Earth would I have any of those items in my pack when I am well aware that they wouldn’t be allowed?!”

He sighed, “I know, I figured it was worth a shot to ask though. I’ll have to start it the old fashion way with friction I guess, but until it dries we’re just going to have to wait. Is the sleeping bag keeping you warm? At least a little?”

“A bit, I suppose. I presume it’s better than nothing.”

Thomas knew that he would warm up faster if he could sit in the sleeping bag with her- actually it would help both of them preserve body heat- but he knew that the mere suggestion of that would earn him another scolding or a firm slap; possibly both. He was frankly getting a little irritated with the way she had been treating him. He felt as though it was unwarranted, and he was truly doing his best.

“How are you feeling?” He asked after a few moments of silence, “Is your head still pounding?”

“It hurts, but not as badly as before. I took a couple of Advil from my bag.”

Thomas almost asked her for some for himself, but decided that since her injuries were more severe, she would need them more than he did.

“That’s good. And just try not to move around too much for your ribs. Again, I don’t think they’re broken, but they are pretty severely bruised.”

“Whatever you say, Doctor,” she replied, sighing heavily and squirming at the pain that breathing deeply brought.

Thomas eyed the wood he had collected again; it couldn’t dry soon enough.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon in the cave was spent primarily in silence, but once the wood and kindling was dry, Thomas had started a fire using friction and some hand sanitizer and was rewarded with a quiet ‘thank you’ and a small smile from Higgins, who was currently holding her hands out towards the fire to try to bask in as much of its warmth as she could.

“Are you hungry?” Thomas asked to try to break the silence.

“A little,” she replied, “Truth be told I don’t have much of an appetite. Probably because of the pain.”

“Well, we have plenty of water since we can melt the snow. I have a couple of power bars in my backpack, but that’s all I have in terms of food. Do you have any snacks in your bag?

Juliet sighed and shook her head, “Unless you count breath mints as snacks then unfortunately; no.”

“We’ll just have to conserve the bars then I guess. I’m not really hungry tonight, and since you aren’t either then we can just save them for later on. Hopefully the snow will let up a little tomorrow and I can check out the surrounding area more and try to make a plan for us to get some help.”

“Are you going to leave me here?” Juliet asked skeptically.

Magnum chuckled a little, “No offense, Higgy, but you’re in no condition to be trekking around in the snow. It’ll be easier for me to scope out the area and find a possible way to get back to a road if I don’t have to carry you. Don’t worry though, if I find help I will bring them back here to pick you up.”

Juliet scoffed, “You’re just chomping at the bit to be rid of me, aren’t you? Now that I can’t pay your way for you to get to your flight home I suppose I’m no use to you anymore.”

“That’s not true at all,” Thomas replied firmly, “I would never abandon you. The first rule that I learnt in the military was that you never leave anyone behind on a mission. If I took you with me tomorrow it would increase your chances of worsening your injury or getting hurt again. I’m trying to protect you, Higgins. You will be warm here as long as the fire is stocked and you’re in the sleeping bag. If I don’t find anything substantial I will come right back here, and even if I do find help I would still come back here with them to make sure you are ok.”

Juliet said nothing as she looked at him before looking down at her lap.

A lightbulb went off in Magnum’s head, “Is that why you’ve been so standoffish towards me since the crash? Or even since we agreed to carpool to Phoenix together? You thought I was just trying to use you? And now you think that I’m going to leave you behind?”

Juliet looked up at him again and furrowed her brow, “Well, what am I supposed to think? I don’t really know you! And besides, just before the accident you told me you knew you could not afford to pay for your share of the car when we first agreed to travel together! If that doesn’t mean that you were using me, I’m not sure what does.”

Thomas sighed, “Do you really want the truth about why I offered to drive you to Phoenix? The real reason?”

“Yes! Have I been too subtle over the last few minutes?”

Magnum took a deep breath, afraid of whether she would believe the real truth, “I offered to drive you because, well, because I wanted to get to know you better. When I saw you in the terminal I just thought you seemed like an interesting person. Once we got to talking I was really intrigued and I guess I just wanted to keep talking. Besides, I felt really bad about the struggles you were having trying to rebook your flight. You seemed like you needed help and I like helping people. It’s what I did in my military career and it’s kind of the only thing I’m any good at. You can choose not to believe me if you want, but it’s the honest truth.”

Higgins was silent for a few more moments as she studied him.  _ Who just decided to drive out of their way for fourteen hours with a stranger because they thought they were interesting?  _ That made absolutely no sense. People just didn’t do that. What a strange man…

“Wow,” she finally said, “You must be quite desperate for companionship if you feel the need to befriend a stranger and dive even further into credit card debt.”

Thomas furrowed his brow, “Hey! I’m not desperate! I was just trying to help! I wish you would just believe that and stop being so mean to me! I’m not happy about this situation any more than you are; especially now that I’m probably going to be responsible for the cost of the totaled car! Could you just maybe  _ try  _ to give me a break? Just a little bit? Your rude comments really aren’t warranted. We need to at least get along while we are stuck together out here! If you don’t want to talk with me, fine, but being nasty to me isn’t going to get us out of this mess any faster.”

Juliet’s eyes looked around the little cave as she rubbed her arms to try to warm them up, thinking of what Magnum had said. She supposed she was being so cold towards him because she blamed him for their predicament, but what if she herself was also partially responsible? She  _ had  _ been yelling at him on the steep, mountain road, which most likely distracted him from concentrating on the road fully. Now a part of her was feeling bad about the way she had been treating her travel companion.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, looking down at her lap, “I suppose I have been behaving rather rudely towards you.”

She looked up at Magnum and hoped that he could tell that she meant her apology. He met her eyes for a moment and he briefly nodded. 

“I-I really am feeling tired, Magnum. I think I’d like to go to sleep now. Do you think it is safe since I hit my head?”

Thomas glanced down at his watch, “It’s been about twelve hours since you first woke up. Are you still feeling dizzy? Do you feel nauseous at all?”

Higgins shook her head.

“I think you should be OK to go to sleep then. Are you warm enough?”

She shivered slightly, “Not really, but I suppose there isn’t much more I can do since I have all of my layers on, I’m in the sleeping bag, and the fire is going.”

Thomas once again debated on whether to suggest that they could bundle together in the sleeping bag to preserve more warmth. He knew it would be a chilly night for him since he didn't have an extra blanket or anything to cover himself with, but he was still weary of pushing the envelope. They were just starting to unwind for the night, there was no need to prompt another outburst from her.

“Well, if there’s anything you need, feel free to wake me up. Sleep well,” he said, offering her a small smile.

“Thank you,” she said timidly, leaning back against the cave wall and closing her eyes. He couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that he wasn’t sitting next to her in the sleeping bag as a shiver ran through him.

He scooted a little closer to the fire and added a bit more wood to keep it going before reaching into his backpack to search for his journal. He had brought it on the ski trip with Rick and T.C., but he hadn’t written anything in it. In fact, he hadn’t written anything in it in a couple of months.

When he and his friends had first returned home from Afghanistan, he had been sent to see a psychiatrist and she had recommended that Thomas start journaling to express his thoughts when he was feeling stressed or overwhelmed. He had been really good about keeping up with it when he had first started out, but he had slacked off significantly over the last few months. He had brought the journal on the ski trip because he had thought that seeing Rick and T.C. would bring back memories from the military which would prompt him to begin writing again, but the motivation hadn’t come. He figured that now, in his current situation, was as good a time as any to write out his thoughts and concerns. He hoped that writing would help him become drowsy as well.

He wrote about everything that had happened since his original flight had been cancelled at the airport. He wrote about meeting Higgins and why he was so confused about being drawn to her, how they had made alternative travel plans, having to reroute the Ferrari due to the highway shutting down, and the subsequent argument and car crash that had led to them sitting in a small cave in the middle of a snow storm in the Rocky Mountains.

It was somewhat cathartic to write out everything that had happened over the past day or so. Part of Thomas was still in disbelief that it had just been a little over 24 hours since he had met Higgins in the first place. He glanced up from his journal to see her sleeping; mouth slightly ajar as she dozed on. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were cherry red, and whether that was from the fire or from the windburn that she may have gotten when he had carried her to the cave, he wasn’t sure. It made her look adorable though.

Despite her frequent bashing of him and their disagreements, Thomas had to admit that in sleep, Juliet looked peaceful and calm. He thought back to his first impression of her when he saw her at the terminal in the airport and he still agreed with his initial assessment; she really was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Hopefully, as they got to know one another more, she would open up to him a bit and be a little less standoffish and rude. Some people just needed a little extra time to be comfortable around someone new, and Thomas supposed that everything they had been through had just caused Higgins’ walls to be built up even higher than normal.

Eventually, he put his journal back in his backpack and leaned against the opposite wall of the cave to try to get some sleep himself, the sound of the crackling fire and Juliet’s steady breaths sending him into a light rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited to post chapter 5 next week! There will be some definite turning points :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope your week is off to a good start! This is by far my favorite chapter of this fic so far and I really hope you all enjoy it. I am hoping to still post on time next Monday but I have gotten a bit behind in writing recently, so who knows. This is a decently long chapter though so hopefully that will make up for it.
> 
> As always, please let me know what you think :)

They both awoke gradually the next morning. Thomas stoked the fire, which had reduced to embers while they slept, and melted some snow for them to drink in his metal water bottle. A faint cough caused him to look up at Higgins.

“Good morning,” he offered quietly, “I hope you slept alright.”

“I actually slept rather well all things considered,” she replied, “I--I could use some help with something though.”

He put the metal bottle down and gave her his full attention, “Sure, what do you need?”

“Could you just help me stand up and walk outside? I need to go to the loo,” Juliet said, not meeting his eyes. Her face was even more red than before. It was clear it had taken a lot for her to ask him that. Come to think of it, she hadn’t asked to go to the bathroom at all since they had arrived in the cave. Granted, they hadn’t had much to drink, but that was still a long time to go without relieving yourself. Thomas thought this would be a great opportunity to show her that all he wanted to do was help her and make the situation as minimally embarrassing for her as he could.

“Absolutely,” he replied, standing up as much as he could with the cave’s low ceiling and heading over to where she was seated, “Here, just grab onto my hands and I’ll help you up.”

She lifted up her hands to him and he gently helped her up and out of the sleeping bag, “Be careful, we don’t need you to hit your head on the rock ceiling. Lean on me as much as you need.”

Higgins wrapped both of her arms around his middle to steady herself as she leaned on him, and Thomas gingerly wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he slowly led her out of the cave.

Once they were outside, Juliet removed her arms from around his torso and looked around awkwardly, presumably looking for a suitable place she could go.

“I’ll just wait here and turn around. There are some trees about twenty feet to the left that would probably work if you think you can make it over there. I can help you walk there if you’d like.”

“No, no, I can manage. I will just take my time,” she told him shyly.

“Ok. Just yell for me if you need something. Even if you don’t think it’s a big deal. I would much rather you call for me for something minor than risk you injuring yourself again.”

Juliet gave him a short nod before setting off towards the trees he had mentioned. The snow had slowed down considerably as there were only some small flurries falling from the sky. The chill was still very prevalent in the air though, and Juliet’s teeth chattered a little as she walked. The cold made her think of holding onto Magnum as she had walked out of the cave earlier. Despite his layers and thick jacket, she still felt the heat from his body coming through on her hands and arms. It had felt… nice, comforting even.

Her need to be warm was causing her to think about what it would be like if she was able to hold onto him like that as they rested in the cave. Juliet brushed the distracting thoughts away quickly. All she needed to concentrate on was doing her business and making it safely back to the cave.

* * *

About ten minutes later Thomas heard her voice faintly calling to him and he turned around immediately.

She had made her way back most of the way from the clearing of trees, but her arms were wrapped around her middle and the look on her face was all he needed to see to let him know that she was in some pretty significant pain.

He quickly rushed over to her side and prompted her to hold onto him once again as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to guide her slowly back to the cave. Higgins gripped his jacket tightly and a small whimper of pain escaped her lips before she sewed them shut, not wanting him to know how much she was hurting.

Once they were back in the cave, he helped her back into the sleeping bag and sat down next to her, “I know you’re hurting, Higgy, and I will get you some more Advil to help with the pain. I think it would also probably be a good idea to drink some water and have a bit of the protein bar from my bag. You need food to keep healing.”

“Ok,” she replied quietly.

He knew that the walk to use the bathroom had really taken the wind out of her sails and aggravated her ribs. The amount that her demeanor and temperament had shifted from just twelve hours ago was astonishing. Thomas knew that severe pain could have that effect on people. He had seen it happen to countless guys he had served with. Normally hilarious, outspoken guys would become quiet church mice with a bad injury. And they had been given strong painkillers, all Juliet had were just a few measly Advils.

He brought the bottle of melted snow over to her along with half of the power bar and the pills. He sat next to her and she slowly sipped from the bottle and ate before taking the pills that he handed her. He added some more wood to their fire to get it to produce more heat, while also noticing that their supply of firewood was getting a little low. He would need to go find some more so that he could keep the fire stocked while he went to go look for some type of escape route or rescue opportunity.

“Do you think you can sit tight here for a few minutes?” He asked, “I’m going to get some more firewood before I head out to look for some help.”

Juliet nodded and leaned back against the wall of the cave gingerly, wrapping her arms around her middle loosely. Suddenly, Thomas had an idea. He grabbed a small plastic bag from his backpack and shook out its contents before going to the edge of the cave to get some snow to pack into it. He headed back to Higgins and handed her the homemade ice pack.

“If the pain gets really bad, hold that to your ribs lightly. It will be cold, but it should numb some of the pain and decrease the inflammation a bit. I’ll be back with more wood in about twenty minutes. I promise I won’t be gone long.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, showing a small smile to express her gratitude for his efforts. He had really been helpful to her this morning, and she felt a little bad again about being somewhat rude to him the last couple of days.

All she wanted to do was be able to get some medical treatment in a warm place and go back home to England. Thinking about England brought a certain sense of sadness to her as well though. There was no one waiting for her to get back, apart from her superiors at the BES, and they would probably be more concerned with what happened to the algae samples she had told them she was bringing back than her own health or safety.

As Thomas ventured out to find more wood for their fire, she entered into deep thought about her life up to that point and what it had consisted of: studying and her career. Her parents had raised her to value a successful and distinguished career above all else, and she had certainly hoped she had made them proud. It was kind of hard to tell if they had been pleased with her as the Higgins’ weren’t a particularly expressive bunch, but despite both of her parents having passed on, Juliet would have felt even a little better regarding her current situation if she felt as though they were waiting for her to make it home.

* * *

True to his promise, Thomas returned with a restock supply of their firewood about half an hour later, letting her know that it would need to dry a little before she added any of it to the fire.

“Since the snow’s let up, now is as good a time as any for me to go look for some help or find a way back to a road. Regardless of what I find, I promise that I will come back as soon as I can; whether I am with or without help.”

Juliet took a deep breath and nodded, “Alright. Please be careful. Oh, and Magnum?”

“Yes?” He replied, slinging his backpack over his shoulders and turning to look at her.

“You should eat the other half of the power bar that you gave me earlier. You need to keep your strength up as well, especially since you’re the one who will be drudging through the snow today. Don’t skip a meal on my account.”

Thomas gave her a small smile for her thoughtfulness, “I will eat it on the way, Higgy! I will need it to keep up my superhuman abilities!”

His little joke put a smile on her face, and Thomas was pleased to see that he had lifted her mood slightly, “Take care of yourself, Higgins. Everything will be ok, I promise.”

Thomas set out and began walking southward to see what he could find as he descended the mountain, keeping his eye out for a road or structure of some kind. Really anything that would indicate people or an establishment.

It wasn’t currently snowing, which Thomas was grateful for, but it was still frigidly cold, and there was at least a foot and a half of snow that he was dragging himself through. About an hour into his expedition, he brushed some snow off of a boulder and sat down briefly to have a few sips of water and eat the half power bar that Juliet had suggested he have.

He felt a little guilty for leaving her behind while he went to go look for help, but what else was he supposed to do? She was in no condition to walk that much and carrying her would just slow them down and lower their chances of covering a substantial amount of ground.

He finished his snack as quickly as he could, pleased that he had decided to eat. He hadn’t realized how hungry he had been after not eating for over a day. That was another reason why they needed help quickly; all they had left now for food between the two of them was a full power bar and the breath mints from Higgins’ bag. Although, now that he thought about it, those could come in handy for another reason…

_ Focus,  _ he scolded himself, shaking his head. Foolish thoughts would not do him any good now.

Needing a distraction from his daydreams about his survival partner, he forced himself to get moving through the snow once again. He was their only hope to find help since Juliet was injured, and that fact was enough to motivate him to continue on.

* * *

Juliet napped, or at least tried to for most of the day. She was still heavily exhausted, and really the only place she was remotely comfortable was in the sleeping bag near the fire. Every once in a while as the fire died down, she would add a piece or two of wood to keep the flames going, the crackles of the fire filling the otherwise silent small cave.

She really hoped that Magnum would find some way to get them out of this. The same fears that she had experienced the day before when he had been gone for an extended period of time were creeping back into her mind; fears of being alone and abandoned in the small cave. While she now truly believed that Thomas would not intentionally abandon her, that still could not prevent him from hurting himself, falling off of a ledge, or being attacked by an animal. And even if he did manage to find help, what if he couldn’t remember how to get back to her?

Higgins sighed deeply and took a small sip of water. Worrying would do nothing to help their situation. In fact, it would probably just make her lingering headache worse. She gently ran her hand over the spot on the side of her head that had bumped in the crash. It had long stopped bleeding, but touching it sent waves of pain throughout her head. She absolutely hated being injured and in pain. She felt completely helpless to do anything.

This whole situation had placed her completely out of her element. Not because they were stuck outdoors, but because she had basically been temporarily disabled by her injuries from the crash and she wasn’t able to be up and about to try to find solutions to get them out of the mess they had found themselves in. Juliet by all means had a “take charge” personality. She had operated for years under the belief that for something to be done correctly, she had to be the one to do it. Putting all of her faith and trust in another person was totally foreign to her, despite Thomas’ boasted experiences in the military and his SEAL training. She really didn’t have too much of a choice now though.

As she wrapped the sleeping bag around herself even further, she heard a faint noise that she couldn’t quite place. It sounded like some sort of animal. Juliet stilled completely and focused all of her energy on listening for the sound again. It sounded like a growl now. There were so many possibilities of what could be lurking nearby. She was not a wildlife expert, but she knew that the Rocky Mountains were home to a wide variety of potentially dangerous animals.

The noise was starting to become louder, which meant that whatever was around the outside of the cave was getting closer. Maybe it could sense the warmth coming from the fire and was looking for a place to escape the cold? Or maybe it was hungry and looking for something to eat…

Juliet hurriedly put a few more pieces of wood onto the fire. She thought that she remembered reading somewhere that a lot of smoke was supposed to scare wild animals away, so the more smoke that was coming from the cave the better. Still, the noise was becoming louder and she froze in fear. Thomas had taken his knife with him on his search for help, leaving her essentially defenseless. It wasn’t as if she could outrun whatever was out there either, with the way her ribs were the simple act of breathing was painful.

It was only late afternoon, but the sun was already starting to dim. That combined with the fear of being attacked by a wild animal caused a pit of fear to sink in Juliet’s stomach. She said a silent prayer for Magnum to return as quickly as possible, not caring if he brought help with him or not.

* * *

Thomas was racing to get back to the cave as soon as he could. The snow was trying to bog him down but he was being fueled by pure adrenaline. After about a three hour walk heading south, he had thought that he hit a dead end at the edge of a hill, but when he had stopped to take a rest and look out over the expanse of land below, he had spotted something in the distance. He had done a double take to make sure he was seeing correctly.

It was a cabin. Or at least a small shack of some sort. It was small and partially covered in the mass of snow that had fallen the day before, but it was a structure, and it was manmade. That was the most important point. He figured from his spot on the hill it would take at least another hour to make it down to the shelter, but since he would be carrying or helping Higgins it would most likely take longer than that.

The sight of the cabin had given him enormous hope though. It was most likely deserted of people, but it could contain some much needed supplies to help them out. Besides, since there was a structure, there had to be a road nearby. People had been there at some point in time.

Thomas was thoroughly exhausted after spending all day in the elements. Spending close to six hours total stomping through about two feet of snow was no small feat, and since his body was still sore from the crash, it had made the ordeal even more tiring.

Looking up to get his bearings, he saw a tree that he remembered passing by earlier that morning when he had first left. The cave couldn’t be more than ten minutes away now. He was excited to inform Higgins of his impressive find. Surely she would be pleased that he had found a legitimate place for them to take shelter and find a road.

As he rounded a corner that he knew was close to where the cave was, he heard it; low growling. He quickly darted behind a thick tree before peering around the corner slowly to see what he was dealing with.

His eyes widened at the sight of a wolf. It was a small wolf, but a wolf all the same. Typically they traveled in packs, so that could mean that there were more nearby. There was no way Juliet hadn’t heard something from the animal. She was probably terrified.  _ Or not,  _ he thought upon further reflection. She didn’t strike him as the type of woman that was easily scared, but that was in normal circumstances. Now that she was injured and had no way to defend herself, it might be a different story.

The animal wasn’t near the entrance to the cave per say, but it was sniffing around. Wolves had an incredible sense of smell, there was no way the animal couldn’t smell Higgins-- or himself for that matter. He could also faintly smell some smoke though, so he hoped that the fire in the cave was large enough to throw the animal off of their scents.

He stood still for a moment, barely breathing, to allow the wheels in his head to start turning. If he played this right, the animal could be a source of food for them. A wonderful source of protein that they would both need to make the trek down to the cabin, especially since they had barely eaten since being stranded in the first place.

He thought about the Swiss Army knife in his bag, it was a handy weapon, but it would require getting way too close to the animal, and he didn’t like his chances against the wolf’s sharp teeth. He needed some way to subdue the animal or knock it unconscious that didn’t involve him having to get up close and personal with it.

Scanning the area quickly, he saw a heavy, thick branch a few yards away that looked long enough to get the job done without having to put himself in too much danger. Glancing over towards the wolf again, he saw that it was sniffing the ground and moving closer and closer to the opening of the cave. Thomas needed to take care of the situation, and fast.

As quietly as he could, he tiptoed in the snow over to the branch he had spotted and lifted it into his arms. It was heavier than he had anticipated, and with the right amount of force and speed, it would definitely knock the wolf out cold. The only problem would be striking the wolf before it attacked or noticed him.

The wolf was standing directly in front of the opening to the cave now. There was no way it hadn’t picked up Juliet’s scent. It began to growl once more and stepped inside of the cave with one paw causing Thomas’ stomach to flip. Taking advantage of the wolf’s fascination with the scents coming from the cave, Thomas swiftly snuck up behind it, standing about 4 feet back, and just as the wolf turned its head to look at him Thomas struck the animal’s head with the heavy branch as hard as he could.

The wolf let out a faint yelp before collapsing on the ground, unconscious. Magnum dropped the branch and dug his knife out of his pack, using it to finish the job since the animal was knocked out. After ensuring that it was in fact dead, he hurried inside of the cave to check on Higgins.

She was sitting in the sleeping bag along the wall, near where she had been when he had left that morning, but her face had turned stark white in fear, surprise, or both, “Magnum?” She asked breathlessly, almost in disbelief that he was standing before her.

“Are you ok?” He asked quickly, adrenaline still running rapidly through his veins, “Did it ever come in here? Or hurt you?”

She shook her head, “Thankfully no, but it has been hanging out in the area for at least a half hour. I heard it growling. What kind of animal was it anyways?”

“A wolf,” he replied, setting his backpack down, “Not a huge one, but a wolf all the same. They are dangerous, especially when they are looking for food. I’m very thankful that it never came in here.”

“I added more wood to the fire to try to get it to smoke more. I think I remember reading somewhere that a lot of smoke deters wild animals,” she told him timidly.

Thomas gave her a kind smile, “That’s very true in most cases. Great job. You probably saved your own life just by doing that. I was terrified that it had already hurt you.”

She returned his smile with one of her own, “Thank you for your concern, but I am fine. Well-- not counting my ribs I would say I am fine. What about you? You must be frozen from walking around in the snow all day… I suppose you didn’t find any help then?”

“Not in terms of people, no, but I did find a cabin that is a few hours hike from here that we could hopefully find some supplies in!”

Juliet’s expression brightened, “If there’s a cabin, there must be a road close by!”

“Just what I thought,” he replied, “I’d love to tell you more about what I found, but first I need to go take care of that wolf outside. We can’t leave a dead animal near the entrance to the cave or it will just draw more predators right to us. Besides, I think I can use my knife to get some meat from it that we can cook. We really need some food and protein right now.”

Juliet nodded before calling out to him as he headed back to tend to the wolf, “Please be careful! Oh, and Magnum?”

“Yes?” He asked, turning to look at her.

“Thank you for protecting me.”

* * *

Thomas made quick work of filleting some meat from the wolf with his knife before disposing of its corpse about 100 yards from the cave. It was better to be safe than sorry. He grabbed a few smaller sticks that they could use for roasting the meat and headed back to the cave, anxious to enjoy some heat from the fire and some company after spending the day alone in the cold.

“Thank you for finding dinner as well,” Higgins said, laughing a little as he sat down by the fire with the meat on the sticks.

“Of course! What kind of SEAL would I be if I didn’t know how to tame a wolf?” He joked. “How was your day? How are your ribs?”

Juliet sighed, “Rather boring I suppose, save for the wolf incident this afternoon. The ribs are… about the same. It’s not too terrible if I’m just sitting here but standing up and walking is another story. I went back to the loo a couple more times today, and each visit bloody hurt.”

“I’m sorry you’re still hurting, Higgins. I wish there was more I could do to ease the pain.”

“You’ve done a great deal today, Magnum. I’m thankful that you were feeling well enough to go look for help. Tell me more about the cabin you saw.”

Magnum laughed, “Wow! You’re complimenting me now! And thanking me for all of my hard work! I’m glad that you’ve realized that there’s no reason to be stubborn and insulting!”

“Don’t push it,” she replied, not being able to help but smile a little.

“The cabin is small, but the parts that weren’t covered in snow looked like they were in decent shape. From here I’m guessing it’ll take us about four hours to get to it, taking into account your injuries and the snow. The main reason I was so excited to see a man-made structure was because that means there has to be a road that leads to it.”

“That is hopeful news. I don’t know if I can make that walk though, Magnum.”

“I know,” he replied, “It was tiring enough for me to make that walk today. Let’s see how you’re feeling tomorrow, and we can make a plan of how we are going to get down there.”

Juliet nodded her agreement, “How long until our ‘dinner’ is ready? I have to say that I never imagined that I’d be eating wolf meat at any point in my life.”

Thomas rotated the sticks a little as he held them over the fire, “Not long now. I’ve never had it either, but I imagine it’ll be pretty bland. Wild meat without any type of seasoning isn’t the tastiest meal, but it will do the trick to keep us going.”

A few minutes later, he pulled the meat from the fire and handed a skewer of it to Juliet, “Here you are, Higgy, a gourmet dinner!”

She eyed the piece of meat curiously before tentatively taking a bite, “It’s actually not too bad, Magnum, but that may be my hunger talking.”

Thomas took a bite of his own piece of meat before agreeing. It was nice to be able to have more to eat than a few bites of a power bar.

Once they had finished their meal, they cooked a few extra pieces of the meat Magnum had collected to save for the next day before Thomas sat back against the wall of the cave and pulled out his journal.

“What is that?” Juliet inquired curiously.

“Oh, it’s just a logbook of sorts I guess you could say,” he explained nervously, “Helps me keep track of my thoughts and what’s going on.”

“So it’s a journal then?”

Magnum sighed, “Basically, yea. The psychiatrist that I saw when I got home from Afghanistan recommended that I start writing in one everyday to help deal with everything that was going through my head at the time. I believe she referred to it as a ‘coping mechanism’. I’ve really slacked off of writing in it in the past couple of months and I brought it along on the ski trip with my military buddies because I thought that would help inspire me to start writing in it again. I think they have journals of their own too.”

“So the trip did motivate you to begin writing again,” Higgins said.

“Eh, yes and no. I actually didn’t do any writing in it while I was on vacation with them at the resort, but I did write a decent amount in it last night. I guess you could say that  _ our  _ trip has inspired me to start writing again,” he replied, chuckling lightly.

Juliet smiled, “Whatever it takes. As long as writing in it is helpful to you, that’s all that matters.”

He returned her smile before looking down at the new page to collect his thoughts on the events that the day had brought upon himself and Juliet. He wrote about trekking all day in the snow, finding the cabin and the hope that it had brought them, and the somewhat frightening encounter with the wolf earlier in the evening. But beyond those things, he wrote more intently on how much better he and Juliet were getting along. They seemed to have turned over a new leaf, and Higgins definitely seemed far more committed to working together with him as a team to survive.

After writing for about twenty minutes, he closed up his journal and glanced up at Juliet who was staring intensely at the fire, clearly deep in thought.

“A penny for your thoughts?” He asked quietly.

“I think you should sleep in the sleeping bag tonight,” she told him, still staring at the fire, “I’ve been sitting in it since we got here and you’ve just spent all day out in the elements. It’s only fair that you should be warm and have a good night’s rest.”

Thomas frowned a little, “No, no, that’s ok, Higgins. You are still healing and the sleeping bag is where you are most comfortable. You need your rest to heal faster. I can sleep pretty much anywhere, trust me.”

“But you must be so cold sleeping without anything wrapped around you! And this sleeping bag belongs to you in the first place. Please, Magnum, take it for the night. I will feel better about myself.”

Thomas persisted still, “There’s no way that I could let you sleep in this cave without it. It wouldn’t be chivalrous at all.”

Higgins sighed, he was firm in his stance that she should be the one sleeping in the sleeping bag. That much was clear. Her mind drifted back to her thoughts earlier that morning when his arms had been wrapped around her as he helped her outside. Since she could feel the warmth radiating through his jacket then, she could only imagine how much warmer it would be if they could fall asleep like that…

She was a bit nervous as she steeled herself for the request she was about to make, “Would you-- would you consider joining me in here? I think we would probably both be warmer that way, and I think we can both fit. If that’s something you’d be ok with.”

Thomas was a bit shocked to say the least, but he was also very pleased. He had secretly wished that they would have shared the sleeping bag the night before, but he didn’t want to be the one to broach the subject. The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

“That sounds really nice, Higgy. It will be a good way to conserve body heat. I think the easiest way for us to do this would be for me to get in first since I'm larger and then I’ll help you in. You can sit between my legs with your back to me.”

Higgins nodded briefly and accepted the hand Thomas offered as he came over to help her out of the sleeping bag before settling himself inside of it. He then helped her lower herself back into the sleeping bag to sit between his legs. He leaned back against the wall of the cave as Juliet leaned back slowly so that her back was to his chest. Magnum zipped up the bag then, cocooning them inside. He could already feel the residual heat from Juliet sitting in the bag for hours and was feeling much warmer.

“Is this ok?” He asked quietly.

“Yes,” she whispered, “The extra warmth is quite nice.”

“Is it ok if I rest my hands here?” He said, wrapping his arms around her and placing his hands gently on the center of her abdomen, being careful to avoid pressing on her ribs.

Juliet nodded and almost shivered at the warmth that coursed through her body from the gentle touch. Even though his hands were gloved and over her jacket, she could’ve sworn they were furnaces. Butterflies swarmed throughout her belly, and she allowed herself to give into the feeling by fully leaning her weight back against him.

Thomas sighed contentedly, relishing in the feeling of holding someone. With all of the stresses of the last few days, it felt really nice to cuddle; not that he would tell Higgins that was the term he was using in his head to describe what they were doing. He could smell the faint scent of her vanilla perfume, mixed in with the smokiness of the fire that she had been sitting beside all day. The pleasant aroma coupled with Juliet resting her head on his shoulder was enough to intoxicate him.

Once they had finished settling themselves in, they whispered quiet ‘goodnights’ to each other and quickly fell asleep in the comfort of each other’s embrace.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay with this chapter... it's extra fluffy though because I wrote it shortly after the iconic *hug* we got a couple weeks ago! Everything about it was just perfect! *sighs* Anyways, I hope everyone has a great week and don't forget to let me know what you think :)

When Juliet awoke, she felt the warmest that she had been since they had become stranded. Magnum’s hands still encircled her body softly while he took steady breaths as he slept. During the night, her head had lulled into the crook of his neck, which in turn had caused Thomas’ head to rest gently on top of her own. She felt very cozy, and in a way, comforted. Juliet couldn’t remember the last time she had slept with anyone, or even the last time she had enjoyed a simple hug.

She wouldn’t classify herself as a ‘cuddly’ person by any means, but she felt warm and safe in the sleeping bag with Magnum, and she figured that she might as well enjoy the extra warmth for as long as she could.

She dozed off again lightly, only waking up fully once she felt Magnum beginning to stir, “Good morning,” she said sleepily.

“Morning, Higgy,” he replied, his voice thick from slumber, “Wow, I slept like a rock!”

“You had quite a busy day yesterday, Magnum.”

“True,” he chuckled, “But I think it’s from being so comfortable and warm in here. You’re a great cuddle buddy!”

Juliet’s cheeks flushed bright red at his compliment. It was certainly one that she hadn’t received before. She had enjoyed their closeness and the warmth it had provided her, but she was still feeling a little nervous about the whole situation, especially since the butterflies that she had felt the night before when they had first settled in were coming back in full force.

“I-I think I need to use the loo,” she said quickly, “Can you unzip the bag please?”

“Of course,” Thomas replied, unzipping the sleeping bag and standing up before helping Juliet out, “Do you need some help walking outside?”

She shook her head, “No thank you, I think I can manage.”

“Alright,” said Magnum as she began to make her way out of the cave, “Just call out if you need anything!”

Juliet surprised herself with how quickly she made it to the group of trees that she had designated as her ‘bathroom’. She suspected she would be moving around slightly better after a day of basically doing nothing, but her fast exit from the cave had little to do with how her ribs were feeling and a lot to do with how she was feeling about Magnum.

She honestly couldn’t put her finger on it. She certainly didn’t have a  _ crush  _ on Magnum. There was no way. She still was coming to terms with the fact that she was stranded in the Colorado wilderness with a man that she had known for less than a week, and despite his valiant displays of assistance and chivalry, her guard was still pretty high up.

The butterflies and warm feelings that coursed through her body when his arms were wrapped around her were just her reaction to feeling some type of warmth in the midst of the frigid weather! There was absolutely nothing more to it than that. Nothing. She needed to get out of her head and think rationally. She had always been a pro at focusing to get tasks done, all she needed to do was view surviving this unpredictable ordeal as another assignment and she would be just fine.

She finished up in the ‘bathroom’ and headed back to the cave. Her ribs were still hurting when she walked, but she noticed that the pain wasn’t as intense as the day before. That had to be a good sign.

As Higgins arrived back at the cave, she spotted Magnum returning with some more tinder for their fire, “Ready for some breakfast?” He asked, “We can have some of the leftover meat from last night and talk about our plan for getting to the cabin.”

“My ribs are still sore, but they aren’t as bad as they were yesterday. I think I could manage the walk with a bit of help,” she said optimistically, taking the piece of meat that he handed her.

He chuckled lightly, “I appreciate you wanting to get a move on, Higgy. Trust me, I do too-- but if we left too early and you put too much stress on your ribs the chance of you reinjuring them or worse would go up by a lot. I think we should at least give it another day. Let’s see how you’re feeling tomorrow and if you’re up to it then, we can start moving; very slowly though.”

Juliet huffed a bit in frustration. She knew he made several good points but that still didn’t stop her from feeling impatient and helpless about the situation. Besides, the last thing she wanted to do was spend another day sitting in the small cave.

“I suppose you’re right. Is there anything we can do to prepare in the meantime?”

“Well, you should spend the day resting. That’s honestly the best thing you could do to prep. We both need to have as much energy reserved as we can. I’m going to lay low today too. That way we can give it our best go out there tomorrow.”

She nodded. While the prospect of another day waiting around in the cave seemed boring, at least she wouldn’t be alone. But then again, the idea of spending the day with him in the cave caused some nerves to appear in her stomach again for some unknown reason. Would it get awkward? What were they even supposed to talk about?

She realized that she had zoned out for a minute before she heard Magnum speak up, “So I’ve told you some things about my time in the military, but since we have all day and nothing else to do, maybe you’d want to tell me some interesting stories about your job? What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever gotten to do through your job?”

Juliet played with her hands a little as she looked at him to answer, “Well, I suppose ‘cool’ is a relative term. Since I found most ecology fascinating what I enjoy in my line of work is probably monotonous to most people. That being said, two years ago the BES sent me to the Galapagos Islands. It was by far the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. They have many gorgeous species of flora, but since my area of expertise is in lichens, mosses, and algae, I was sent to the Pampa zone up in the higher elevations of the islands. That’s the only place where those types of organisms can be found in the Galapagos. The tour company that led myself and a colleague up there thought we were boring for the types of plants we were studying. Which I surmised was understandable given all of the other thousands of rare species of extravagant plants, but our assignment was our assignment.”

A bright smile spread across Juliet’s face then as she began to explain her research and findings. Thomas thought she had never looked more lovely. She had forgotten about their circumstances and become immersed in her work by reliving the experience. It was clear that she was extremely passionate about her career.

“What was perhaps the most interesting part of all of it was how because of the rainfall and elevation, all of the species of mosses and lichens disappear and reappear throughout the year. They are all clustered around small pools of water formed during the heavy rain season; so, when there is little rain, virtually all of the plant life in the upper elevation zone dies off, save for the fern trees. Those were quite bushy.”

“Wow,” Thomas replied, “I’ve heard many great things about the Galapagos Islands, but I’ve only seen a few clips of them on TV. I think it’s awesome that you got to go. How long were you there for?”

“About two months. I’d really like to go back one day though. There was still so much that I didn’t get to see and appreciate. Not to mention the tropical weather. I thought it was muggy and humid since I was there in the summer, but I would much rather take that over the cold spot we’re in now. The weather was actually quite nice in the upper altitudes; around 20 degrees Celsius.”

“If only we could be blessed with those temperatures now,” Thomas sighed before shooting her a grin, “Of course, If you're still feeling chilly we could always double up in the sleeping bag again.”

Juliet’s cheeks flushed bright red; it was obvious now that he had enjoyed their little sleepover as much as she had. Her nerves gnawed at her stomach as she met his eyes timidly, before smiling softly at him.

“Perhaps later, Magnum. The added warmth is a welcome treat after the sun goes down and the temperature drops even further.”

Magnum’s smile brightened, pleased that it was almost a surefire promise that he would get to spend that night holding her again. As Juliet continued to slowly let down her walls little by little, he could sense his budding feelings for her growing rapidly.

“In the meantime, would you like to hear about my time spent on assignment in the Amazon Rainforest?”

“The Amazon?! How on Earth have you managed to go to all of these cool places?!”

* * *

They had spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon exchanging stories about their lives and careers before Juliet had dozed off for a nap and Thomas had taken out his journal again. Since he couldn’t get Juliet off of his mind, he decided to write about her and the stories that she had shared with him that morning.

While she had been behaving rudely to him during their first couple of days together, Thomas had tried to convince himself that offering to help her in the first place and traveling with her had been a giant mistake. He had kicked himself for seemingly being too distracted and in awe of her beauty and impressive aura that he had managed to almost get them both killed. He knew now that those reactions and thoughts had been foolish. Juliet just had walls, and now that she knew that he was going to do everything he could to protect and help her, she was beginning to let him in. Her opening up to him had given his heart the proverbial green light to kick start the initial connection that he had felt with her to grow into real, serious feelings. A part of him also knew that something, or things, had caused Higgins to build so many walls around herself. It was a classic defense mechanism, but from what he wasn't entirely sure of; for now anyways.

He felt a deep sense of obligation towards Juliet now, and if something happened to her while they were trying to get help or be rescued Thomas would be absolutely devastated. He just wanted to keep learning more and more about her, and his heart fluttered at the thought of keeping her warm at night. They had slept so peacefully the night before with her resting against him, everything had just felt so right and complete.

Glancing up at Higgins as he thought of her, he noticed that she was slowly sliding down and towards the right since she was leaning back against the smooth wall of the cave. If she stayed in that position she would most likely end up falling on her right side, which certainly wouldn’t do her healing ribs any favors.

Slowly and quietly so as not to wake her, he moved from his position sitting across from her to go sit next to her so that instead of her torso slumping over, her head would just land on his shoulder. When it did, she shifted slightly, her body wondering what it had come into contact with. Her eyes had opened ever so slightly, but once she realized that it was just Magnum, she fell back asleep almost immediately.

A great sense of accomplishment washed over him. Knowing that Juliet was comfortable enough with him now to sleep on his shoulder was so heartwarming. He went back to his journaling for half an hour more before he felt her stirring against his shoulder.

Higgins groaned in frustration as she sat up straight, “I would absolutely kill to be able to sleep in an actual bed. I’m so tired of sitting on this rock floor. It’s bloody killing my back.”

“Maybe the cabin will have a bed,” Thomas said hopefully, “And a huge fireplace that will keep the whole place warm.”

“Is it a resort, Magnum?” Juliet asked sarcastically, “Will we have a heated pool as well?”

He laughed and played along, “I think we just might! Not to mention the incredible spa as well!”

Higgy rolled her eyes and smiled before announcing she was making a trip to the loo before gently easing herself up and out of the cave.

Thomas grabbed some more wood from their small pile and added it to the fire to give it some more life.

When Juliet returned from her bathroom trip, Magnum decided to take a chance and broach a topic that would either get him in quite a bit of trouble or give him some more insight into her past.

“So, I guess it’s been four days now. Who was going to pick you up from the airport? They must have notified the police that you’re missing by now. I know my friends must have; I promised to check in with them once we were supposed to get to Phoenix.”

Juliet looked down at her hands before meeting his eyes in a flash of anger, “Why do you care who was going to pick me up? Doesn’t make much of a difference now does it?”

Thomas had been expecting a bit of a defensive response from her, and was prepared to answer calmly, “Hey, no need to get upset. I was just curious. Was it one of your colleagues from your research team?”

“No one was coming to pick me up!” She snapped, “There is no one waiting for me to come home. Nothing except a small flat and a few plants. Was that the answer you were looking for?”

A brief moment of silence passed over them before Thomas spoke quietly, “I’m sorry to hear that, Higgy. You know, even though my friends would have found out eventually that something had happened to me, there would be no one waiting for me in Detroit either. Not even some plants in my apartment because God knows I could never manage to keep them alive.”

That caught Juliet’s attention, “Where is your family then? Aren’t you from there?”

“I am. But my father died when I was about eight while he was in the military and my mom passed away when I was overseas in the military. I don’t have any siblings and all of my aunts and uncles have passed on as well. That’s why I’m so grateful for Rick and TC; they’re pretty much all I’ve got. That’s why I’m hoping that someday I’ll be able to save enough money to move to Hawaii and live near them. I’ve got a bit of a ways to go before that can happen though unfortunately.”

Juliet studied him for a moment. Maybe they weren't as different as she had initially presumed, “I apologize for snapping at you, Magnum. My personal life has always been somewhat of a touchy subject, even for just myself. My parents died a couple of years ago and I don’t have any siblings either. I have some extended family, but they live in Wales and I was never particularly close with any of them. I have a few work acquaintances, but no one that I would call to come retrieve me from the airport or spend time with outside of work. I’m afraid my studies and research have taken precedence over having a social life. In a way I believe that’s what has allowed me to get to where I am professionally.”

“Well, you’re certainly very successful, Higgy, not to mention really smart! Getting a PhD is no joke!”

Juliet smiled softly, “Yes, well, I believe you’ve shown that you’re rather intelligent yourself, Magnum. I mean, if it weren’t for your survival knowledge, I most likely would have frozen to death somewhere by now.”

“Well thank you for recognizing that I saved your life, Higgy,” Magnum boasted, “I’m always happy to play the hero! It’s kind of my specialty.”

Juliet rolled her eyes and laughed in disbelief as she shook her head a little, “Is it possible for you to accept a genuine expression of thanks or a compliment without boosting your own ego up fifty notches?”

Thomas burst out laughing, “Do you not know when I am being facetious, Higgy? I’m just playing around! But on a more serious note, thank you for your kind words. It really means a lot to me; especially since we are becoming friends.”

Juliet raised her eyebrows, “We are friends now?”

“Absolutely!” Thomas insisted, “Think about all we have been through together so far. We are both going to remember this experience for the rest of our lives! And we will always remember how we met and how you were almost attacked by a wolf. And how we found rescue, of course.”

“I agree that this ordeal isn't something I’ll ever forget, but we haven’t found help yet, Magnum. And there’s nothing guaranteeing that we will. It is always nice to remain positive, but I don’t want us to get too ahead of ourselves.”

“Don’t worry, Higgy. We  _ will  _ find a way out of this. I’ve promised that before and I’ll promise it again. Have I broken any of the promises I’ve made to you so far?”

Juliet thought for a moment before realizing that he hadn’t. If anything, he had gone out of his way on multiple occasions to ensure that she felt as safe and comfortable as possible.

“No, I suppose you haven’t.”

“And I don’t intend to. I’m a man of my word, and a really loyal friend at that. The entire reason that Rick, TC, and I got so close in Afghanistan was because we went through many hard times and scary situations. But through it all, we had each other’s backs. We knew we could depend on each other and we would put our lives on the line for each other if needed. When you go through those types of situations with people it bonds you to them forever in some way. It’s very strong.”

Juliet smiled slightly. It  _ would  _ be nice to have someone to depend on without hesitation; a friend she could call without fear of rejection or judgment. She didn’t have anyone in her life that she was close enough with to do that with, and perhaps finding someone to fill that spot would be quite rewarding.

“Alright,” she smiled, meeting his eyes shyly, “We are friends; which means we can count on each other for the rest of this ordeal and going forward.”

“Deal,” he grinned, offering his gloved hand for her to shake.

Taking it, she felt him hold onto her hand a little longer than was typical for a handshake before squeezing it once reassuringly before letting it go.

Truth be told, Juliet wouldn’t have minded holding onto his hand for the rest of the afternoon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I'm so sorry for the delay with updating this!! My muse has been kind of lacking lately because of certain things on the show, but that's the beauty of fanfiction, right? Anyways, enjoy the chapter! I think they are getting closer..... Please let me know what you think!!

Sleep had come quickly for Thomas and Juliet that night, but it wasn’t without its struggles. Thomas had woken in the middle of the night because of Juliet crying out from a bad dream. Upon rousing her he had learned that she had dreamt of falling off of a cliff after Thomas had tried and failed to catch her. He had reassured her that it was only a dream and that she was probably thinking of a scenario like that because of what had happened to them in the car.

“We will be ok, Higgy,” he had told her softly, “And even if we were in that situation, you know I would do everything I could to save you, right?”

She had nodded a little in agreement before leaning more heavily against him and tucking her head into the crook of his neck.

When morning came, they both felt a bit better and Juliet insisted that she would be able to make the four hour trek to the cabin.

“I will be fine, Magnum,” she said adamantly, “I am feeling much better than I was a couple of days ago. Besides, we need to get a move on.”

Thomas sighed, “Ok, Higgins. If you’re feeling up to it, let’s pack up. But first we’re splitting the last power bar. We’re going to need as much strength as we can get. It’s a gamble to eat what little food we have left, but I’m hoping that there will be some non-perishables once we get to the cabin.”

They ate quickly and gathered their belongings before setting out into the frozen landscape. It was snowing lightly; nothing too extreme, but it was enough to make Thomas want to move as quickly as possible in order to avoid getting caught in a potential blizzard.

“Are you certain that you remember how to find the cabin?” Juliet asked, raising her voice so that she could be heard above the wind.

“I know where it is, don’t worry. I chose certain trees and landmarks as placemarks in my mind so I would be able to find my way back to the cave. All I have to do to remember where the cabin is see them in my mind in reverse. We did similar drills in SEAL training.”

“Alright,” she huffed, taking another step into the deep snow, “Gosh, was the snow this high when you first walked this way the other day? You must have really been moving at a good clip to get through it all.”

“The blizzard that we got caught in initially really dumped out a lot of snow. The clouds today aren’t looking that promising either, so I’d really like to make it to the cabin before the heavy snow comes back,” said Thomas.

“I’ll go as fast as I can,” Juliet promised, “I don’t want to be the reason we get stuck in another storm.”

“You’re giving it your best shot,” Magnum replied, “Moving quickly and carefully is the key here. We don’t need any more injuries.”

For the next hour they continued on mostly in silence, concentrating solely on making sure they were keeping their balance in the deep snow. The further they went though, the more pain was beginning to gather at Juliet’s side. Her body certainly wasn’t happy about all of the strenuous exercise that she was inflicting on her tender ribs.

Thomas glanced over at her briefly and saw the pain in her face, “Would you like to take a quick break, Higgins? Five minutes won’t hurt us too much. I’ll see if I can fish the Advil out of the bag as well.”

“Fine,” she sighed. She hated feeling like such a burden, even if Magnum was all too willing to accommodate her.

He slung the packs off of his back and rummaged around before handing her a couple of pills and a water canteen. The wind howled loudly as he spoke, “If it’s really hurting you to walk, I could carry you. For a little bit anyways. I know you’re hurting, Higgy.”

“I will walk,” she said firmly, handing the canteen back to him after taking a few swigs, “If you carry me it’ll slow us down even more. Besides, you’re already carrying both of our backpacks. That’s plenty of extra weight already.”

“Alright,” he agreed, “But if it ever gets too much and you need a break you need to let me know. It looks like the weather is only going to get worse today.”

Juliet nodded briefly and they continued on towards a downhill decline that looked rather troublesome.

Thomas held out a gloved hand for her to take, “Hold onto my hand. It could get pretty slippery on this hill.”

Seeing the steep decline, she grabbed his hand tightly as they began their descent. The snow on the hill was far more unstable than the snow on level ground, and she could tell that even Thomas was watching his steps very carefully; knowing full well that one of them falling would bring both of them down.

The wind and snow seemed to be picking up even more the further down the hill they went, and Juliet had lost all feeling in her face completely. Her entire body felt frozen to the core, but even the extreme cold wasn’t enough to numb the pain radiating from her side as her ribs screamed from the exertion.

“M-Magnum,” she said, teeth chattering loudly, “Can w-we take a short break please? I’m really, really hurting.”

“Of course,” he said calmly, “Let’s go over towards that thick tree.”

Magnum wrapped his arm around her shoulders to help her get to their resting spot by the tree and then put their bags down and rubbed his hands together to try to get the blood circulating to his fingers again. He leaned up against the tree to try to block some of the wind before looking back at Juliet, who had her arms wrapped around herself and looked so cold that she seemed to be seconds away from turning into a popsicle; a cherry one given how red her cheeks and the tip of her nose were.

“Come here,” Thomas called over the billowing gusts, opening his arms to her, “You’ll be much warmer if the tree and I are blocking the wind for you.”

Juliet was hurting so much and in so much pain that she didn’t see any reason to protest. She shuffled towards him, her head falling against his chest defeatedly. Thomas wrapped his arms around her in a light hug, trying to be as gentle as possible so that he wouldn’t aggravate her ribs any further while still trying to transfer some warmth to her. He could feel her shivering violently, and he felt incredibly frustrated that there really wasn't much more that he could do to help her.

“What can I do, Higgy? How can I help make this easier for you? I know this sucks, but once we make it to that cabin things will be better. I’ll start a nice big fire, cook us some food, and make us some hot chocolate. We can even cuddle in front of the fire if you’d like,” he joked.

Higgins sniffled a bit as she shifted against him, her nose running in the cold air, “We don’t even know what’s inside of that cabin, Magnum. It could be nothing for all we know,” she said sadly.

“I have a good feeling about it, Higgy. And besides, we have to think positively. I told you that I would make sure we got through this, and I always keep my promises. We  _ can  _ do this. Are you feeling a bit better now that we’ve taken a little break?”

Higgins sighed, “Not really. But we need to keep going… Do you think you could keep your arm around my shoulders though? For support? It helps keep some of the weight off of my middle.”

Thomas gave her a small smile, “Absolutely.”

He gathered up their bags again and his arm resumed its position around her shoulders as they continued on. Juliet allowed herself to lean into him, enjoying the subtle warmth that being close to him provided as they continued on in the snow.

* * *

“Did you ever have to go through snow like this in the military?” She asked a while later as they walked alongside a semi-frozen river.

Thomas laughed lightly, “The only places I was ever sent to were extremely hot and dry. SO basically the exact opposite. We had to do a bunch of training exercises in 40 degree water during hell week though. That definitely built up my tolerance to the cold. I’m not saying I’m warm now or anything, but after an experience like that your perspective on temperature changes a little.”

“How much further do you think we have now?” She inquired, “I feel like we’ve been walking for at least three hours. Feels like it anyways.”

“Hmmm I’d say we have about 90 more minutes. Give or take. Want to take another break?”

She did, but she wanted to get this icy trek over with as soon as she possibly could, “I’m fine. Let’s keep moving. Are we going to have to cross this river at some point? It looks a little troublesome.”

Thomas grimaced as he remembered that he hadn’t mentioned the river to her when he had told her about the walk to the cabin the day before, “Yes, but it shouldn’t be too bad. I crossed over using a huge fallen tree the other day. I think we should be coming up on that pretty soon; and don’t worry, I’ll help you across.”

Sure enough, about ten minutes later they were upon the gigantic fallen tree that would serve as their bridge across the river.

“I’ll go across first and put our packs down. Then, I’ll come back across to help you over, ok?”

Juliet nodded briefly, watching as Thomas stepped up onto the large tree and took a moment to steady himself before beginning to carefully cross it. With the wind and snow continuing to pick up, he knew that it was imperative that he move slowly and methodically. He didn’t even want to think about how cold the water in that river would be, and he didn’t intend on finding out.

When he was almost over to the other side, Juliet moved towards the tree herself and stepped up onto it gingerly, starting to inch out onto the thick log.

Thomas finished putting their bags down and turned around to find Juliet already standing on the tree and attempting to begin the walk herself. He quickly got back onto the tree himself and called out to her, “Hey! You were supposed to wait for me! It’s really dangerous! Please just stay put until I can reach you.”

“Relax, Magnum. I’m just trying to save a bit of time. I will be careful. How about you meet me halfway and help me from there?”

Magnum was getting frustrated. He knew she was hurting and impatient to get to the cabin but it was certainly not the time to be taking risks; especially since their “bridge” was about six inches above a semi frozen river.

“Higgins, I’m serious. Stay put. I can’t risk you falling in.”

Juliet scoffed, “Do you really believe me to not be capable of taking a few steps, Magnum? I know this whole ‘survival ordeal’ is more a part of your territory, but that doesn't mean that you have to act like I can’t do anything.”

Thomas kept stepping carefully on the tree and he moved across to the other side. All he was concentrating on was getting to her as quickly as he possibly could. “Higgy, please. This isn’t about any of that. I just want to keep you safe. Please just wait!”

“Fine,” she huffed, sighing in defeat as she stopped about a third of the way across, “I will wait for my knight in shining armour to come and rescue my poor, crippled, little self.”

All of a sudden, she shifted slightly and lost her footing on the icy log. Thomas could have sworn that the entire thing happened in slow motion. It was as if time had slowed down immensely as he watched panic bloom across her face as she fell off of the log, screaming ‘Thomas!’ before she plunged into the frigid water.

And then a switch was flipped in his brain and he was right back in SEAL mode; there was no time to waste. Juliet’s arms were flailing around wildly as she shrieked from the shock of the extremely cold temperature. Thomas quickly lay on the log flat on his belly, “Give me your hand, Juliet! Come on!”

When her wet, gloved hand was in his, he sat up and hauled her out of the water as quickly as he could. He could see that she was almost in complete shock: both from the cold and from falling in the first place. He held her close to him as he picked her up and quickly scurried to the other side of the river. Juliet was shaking uncontrollably and she was completely soaked, but it was so cold that some of the water in her hair and eyelashes was already starting to crystalize. Thomas knew it wouldn’t be long before hypothermia set in. They needed to find that cabin as soon as possible.

He felt like he was on autopilot. Magnum quickly slung their bags over his shoulder and made sure he had a secure hold on Juliet before taking off into a run. He knew they still had another hour and a half of walking time left before they would reach the cabin, but he knew that Higgins wouldn’t last that long. He needed to get her warm and out of her drenched clothes as soon as possible.

He really got worried as he looked down at her while he was running and saw that her lips were beginning to have a blue tinge to them. The shivering that she had been doing when he had first pulled her out of the water had subsided greatly, which was also alarming, especially since Juliet seemed to be kind of out of it. Her body was shutting down from the cold.

“Higgy, you need to stay awake! Come on girl,” He panted, running as fast as he could.

He heard a small whimper from her as he felt Juliet’s hand feebly grab at his jacket before she completely passed out, her head lulling against his chest.

As they came up on the cabin, Thomas knew he had never run that long in his life; not even during training or on a mission. He had been going off of pure adrenaline to make it in about half the time, but it still had taken them about forty minutes to reach the cabin. Juliet looked ghostly, and to top things off he was now extremely exhausted.

Thomas circled the building and looked for a door or some way that they could get in. He needed to get Juliet out of the cold and warm as soon as he could. She had been unconscious for over half an hour, and even though she wasn’t very heavy she felt like dead weight in his arms.

Finally, he located the door to the cabin and kicked away the snow that had piled up in front of it. The doorknob was icy but it was loose, and with some jiggling and a hard kick, the door opened.

It was cold inside the cabin, but nowhere near as cold as it was outside. The living room area was pretty sparse, but there was a brown couch in front of a fireplace. Thomas gently lay Juliet on the couch while he went to look for a blanket or comforter of some sort. He rushed around the small cabin opening every door before he came upon a closet with a thick, fleece blanket inside. He grabbed the blanket and rushed back to Higgins, beginning to remove her drenched and frosted jacket. He continued with her boots, socks, and sweater before hesitating to remove everything else. Sure, she might kill him later for taking her clothes off, but she wouldn’t even have a chance to do that if she died from hypothermia.

“I’m so sorry, Higgy. I promise I’m only doing this because I absolutely have to,” he told her still unconscious form. He removed her pants, tank top, and then closed his eyes as he removed her bra. He left her panties on as they were fairly small anyways, and quickly bundled her in the blanket before stripping out of his own clothes, save for his boxer briefs, and climbed onto the couch with her.

He hauled her body on top of him, trying to maximize their skin to skin contact, and wrapped the blanket tightly around them both. Juliet just felt  _ cold.  _ She was chilled to the bone and still not waking up as he tried to get her to come to. He brought a hand up to the pulse point on her neck and concentrated on finding a heartbeat. It took a minute before he found it, but it was extremely weak and slow.

Thomas hugged her torso against him even tighter, rubbing his hands and arms up and down her back to try to get her blood flowing. He prayed that he would be able to transfer enough body heat to her to get her to recover and wake up.

He would be lying if he said that he had never envisioned a situation with Juliet that involved both of them almost naked together, but this was probably the least ideal way that it could have happened. He made sure her face was tucked into his neck, her frozen nose sending shivers through his own body as he felt her taking shallow breaths against his skin. He let the exhaustion from running through snow for almost an hour and a half seep into him as he closed his eyes. He knew he would have to get a fire going in the fireplace later, but for now all that mattered was that he was helping Juliet get warm and they were both resting. He felt his eyelids getting heavier, and the pleasant weight of Juliet resting on top of him was comforting. He could tell that she was a little warmer than when they had first arrived, and he was relieved that he could also feel her breathing becoming a little deeper. He concentrated on feeling the rise and fall of her chest against his as he drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

When Thomas’ eyes fluttered open hours later, the natural light coming into the cabin had significantly decreased. It appeared to be after dusk as the sun was almost completely down. They had slept for at least five or six hours, and Juliet was still out. Thomas wanted to make sure that she was at least able to wake up, “Higgy,” he said softly, rubbing his hands up and down her arms, “Can you wake up a little for me? You can go back to sleep, but I just want to make sure you are ok.”

Higgins stirred slightly and let out a quiet groan, but she made no effort to open her eyes or talk to him.

“Please, Juliet. Can you look at me? I’m going to have to get up to start a fire for us.”

“Where are we?” She mumbled, “What happened?”

“We made it to the cabin, but you fell into the river on the way here. Do you remember that?” He asked.

“Um, a little I guess,” she replied before looking around a little, “Wait, why are we naked?”

“Well, we aren’t all the way but I had to get you out of your soaked clothes. Your skin was turning blue and the clothes were half frozen by the time we got here. The fastest way to warm up after an extreme cold shock like that is through skin to skin contact to share body heat. I was scared you were going to get hypothermia! And I swear that I didn’t look at anything! I promise!”

Juliet sighed, it was a bit embarrassing to be pressed flush against Thomas with just her underwear on, but she believed him when he told her that he hadn’t seen or done anything unbecoming. She was still a bit chilly, but she did feel much warmer against Thomas than she had all day. Her body still felt absolutely exhausted, and she had little energy to say anything else.

“I’m gonna go start the fire now, Juliet. I’ll bring you some water too,” Thomas closed his eyes and made sure the blanket was securely wrapped around Juliet before he got up. Immediately, she felt the loss of his warmth and was tempted to tell him to wait to start the fire, but she knew that would be foolish. She had already been foolish earlier when she had refused to heed his advice as they crossed the river. She had been trying to prove to him that she was capable of taking care of herself, that she would be able to do  _ something _ out on their crazy survival mission that didn’t require his help. She had been feeling useless and like a lump of dead weight that Thomas literally had to carry. All things considered, he had been quite patient and accommodating to her so far. Had this happened with someone else, there was a high probability that they may have left her behind in order to save themselves, but clearly that was not even a remote possibility for Thomas. She could even think about several of her colleagues who would have left her to fend for herself, and thinking about it that way made her feel ever more alone in her normal life. 

Thomas dressed again quickly to head outside to collect material for their fire. There was a small shack-like structure about 20 feet from the cabin, and Thomas was hoping that there would be some useful materials inside that they could use, and maybe even some pre chopped wood. After spending a few minutes clearing snow away from the doorway, he pushed his way inside and saw various tools and hardware along with a small pile of wood. It looked like it had been much larger at one point, but even the small amount that was there would probably be enough to last them a day or two. Thomas grabbed a few pieces of the wood along with an almost empty container of lighter fluid and headed back to the house.

Juliet was still bundled on the couch as he started the fire, and once he had it going he brought over the canteen of water for her to sip on.

“Just take slow sips,” he said quietly, “I’m going to go look in the cabinets in the kitchen to see if there’s any food.”

Most of the cabinets were completely empty, and Thomas was getting worried that they wouldn’t find any food until he saw a few cans of soup in the back of one of the cabinets along with what looked like a few packs of instant noodles.

He grabbed a soup can and rummaged around to find a pot that he could warm it up in over the fire.

“I’m still very cold,” Higgins said meekly, “I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you earlier as well. I wish I wasn’t so stubborn sometimes.”

Thomas stirred the soup before coming over to the couch and sitting beside her, “I accept your apology, but we can only keep moving forward now. We still have to focus on getting you better. I’m going to hang up our clothes in front of the fire so they’ll be dry for tomorrow. I’ll go look for some other blankets as well,” he added.

After stripping down into his boxers and hanging all of their clothes in front of the fire, Thomas padded around the small cabin to look for another blanket or something that would help to keep them warm. He entered a small bedroom with what appeared to be a full size bed and another fireplace.  _ I’ll look into starting another fire there tomorrow,  _ he thought. In the back of the room there was a small closet, within which he found another blanket that he quickly grabbed before heading back into the living room.

The soup was simmering and ready, so he grabbed a single bowl that he could find along with a couple of plastic spoons and helped Juliet sit up so that they could eat together, making sure the extra blanket was wrapped snugly around them both. They were hungrier than they had realized, and in no time at all they had finished the soup. Thomas placed the bowl and their spoons on a side table and crawled back under the blanket himself.

They spent a few moments sitting in silence before Juliet spoke up, “We are both going to stay on the couch tonight, right? I’m sorry if it’s a bit awkward given our lack of-- dress, but I think we will be much warmer if we sleep here together.”

“Of course,” Thomas agreed, “How would you like to sleep? You choose the position that will be most comfortable for you.”

“Um… how about like in the cave? With my back to your chest?”

“Sounds good,” he agreed, allowing her to shift herself into place before he tentatively wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Are you comfortable? Where do you want me to put my hands?”

“Where they are now is just fine,” she replied sleepily, “It feels nice.”

Thomas smiled, “Good. Now, I think it’s time for us to get some more rest.”

Juliet nodded a little as she settled more firmly against him under the blanket, allowing the warmth from his body and arms to envelop her, “Goodnight, Thomas.”

“Goodnight, Juliet,” he whispered into her hair


End file.
